Taher, Noni brought to war crimes tribunal for verdict delivery

Former Razakar commander Md Obaidul Haq alias Abu Taher and a member of the notorious militia, Ataur Rahman Noni, have been brought to the tribunal for the delivery of the verdict in the case against them for 1971 war crimes.

The three-strong bench of the International Crimes Tribunal led by Justice Anwarul Haq has started to read out summary of the 268-page verdict after 10:30am.

The two have been charged with murder, abduction, torture, arson and looting in Netrokona during the Liberation War.

Obaidul Haq alias Abu Taher and Ataur Rahman Noni

Taher and Noni’s cases reached the International Crimes Tribunal after Netrokona freedom fighter Ali Reza Kanchan filed a case in 2010 against them and 10 others, accusing them of perpetrating war crimes.

The prosecution began investigating them on Jun 6, 2013, and filed a 63-page report on Nov 5, 2014.

Netrokona police arrested them on Aug 12, 2014, hours after the special court issued warrants for the two. The next day, they were sent to jail.

On Dec 11 that year, the court admitted the charges levelled against them. They were indicted on six charges on Mar 2 last year, and the trial began.

Witness deposition started on Apr 5, 2015, during which altogether 23 people testified.

On Jan 11 this year, the tribunal concluded the trial and kept its verdict pending and on Monday the tribunal set Tuesday for delivering the verdict.