Trial against ex-Maj Gen Ziaul Ahsan may conclude by October: Prosecutor

Highlights:

• Last prosecution eyewitness completes testimony and cross-examination
• Defence disputes prosecution's evidence and alleges witnesses were pressured
• Three or four other enforced disappearance cases are nearing the arguments stage
• Charge-framing hearings in Chattogram, Gazipur cases postponed due to judge's illness

The trial of former Major General Ziaul Ahsan in a crimes against humanity case involving more than 100 alleged enforced disappearances and killings during the Awami League government may conclude by October, said International Crimes Tribunal Senior Prosecutor Mizanul Islam.

The prosecution has completed recording testimony from its last eyewitness in the case, with the cross-examination of the 13th prosecution witness completed today (27 September), the prosecutor told journalists after the hearing.

The witness, retired Major Sabbir Rahman, was a former deputy commander of RAB-8 in Barishal. The trial is being held before International Crimes Tribunal-1.

Mizanul Islam said a witness from the seizure list was also testifying today, while the investigating officer could testify on the next scheduled date.

Asked when the verdict might be delivered, he said it was solely the tribunal's responsibility to determine the timing.

"If I say when it will be delivered, it would directly amount to contempt of court," he said.

The prosecutor said the prosecution expected to complete the examination of witnesses and arguments from both sides by October if the proceedings continued at their normal pace.

Prosecution, defence differ over evidence

Mizanul Islam said the prosecution believed it had presented sufficient documentary, eyewitness and circumstantial evidence to support the charges against Ziaul Ahsan.

"We have presented eyewitnesses to every incident except the abduction of a boatman named Alkas Mallik. And none of these witnesses are outsiders; they are people from his own force," he said.

Regarding the cross-examination of Major Sabbir, the prosecutor said the defence had attempted to challenge the witness's credibility but, in the prosecution's view, had failed to bring out anything that undermined it.

Ziaul Ahsan's lawyer Naznin Nahar, however, said the prosecution had failed to produce any witness capable of proving the allegations against her client.

She claimed Ziaul Ahsan's name did not appear in contemporary newspaper reports concerning the killings cited in the case.

The defence lawyer also alleged that witnesses had been pressured through inducements and threats to give testimony and claimed that Ziaul Ahsan had been "targeted" in the case.

Other disappearance cases

Asked whether other enforced disappearance cases had stalled, Mizanul Islam disagreed.

He said some cases might appear to be progressing more slowly when another case was moving faster, but several other cases were already close to the stage of final arguments.

Three or four such cases are nearly ready for arguments and could move forward once testimony from the investigating officers is completed, he said.

The prosecutor also discussed the postponement of the charge-framing hearing in a Chattogram case after a judge of Tribunal-2 fell ill.

He said Judge Md Manzurul Bashid, a retired district and sessions judge, suddenly became ill and was hospitalised, prompting the tribunal to consider it inappropriate to continue the hearing in his absence.

A similar situation led to the postponement of the charge-framing hearing in the Gazipur Patartek case, he said.

Such hearings can be deferred when the presence of the judge is considered necessary, Mizanul Islam said, adding that the tribunal chairman could take alternative measures in cases of prolonged illness.