War criminal Salauddin Quader’s wife, son’s trial begins for leaking war crimes verdict

War criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury’s wife and son have been indicted along with five others for leaking his verdict handed down by the International Crimes Tribunal.

Bangladesh Cyber Crimes Tribunal judge KM Shamsul Alam on Monday set the date for hearing testimonies for Mar 28.

The former BNP MP from Chittagong was executed in November last year for crimes against humanity during Bangladesh’s Liberation War.

His wife Farhat Quader Chowdhury, son Hummam Quader Chowdhury and four other accused pleaded not guilty to the charges in court on Monday. Another accused is absconding.

Apart from Farhat and Hummam, the other accused are Salauddin Quader’s lawyer Fakhrul Islam and manager Mahbubul Ahsan, Mehedi Hasan, a staff to lawyer Islam, and two ICT employees Nayan Ali and Faruk Hossain.

On Oct 1 2013, Salauddin Quader, found guilty of atrocities during the 1971 war, was given the death sentence by the ICT.

Salauddin Quader Chowdhury's wife Farhat Quader Chowdhury holds a 'copy of the verdict' as she speaks to reporters on the court premises. File photo.

Salauddin Quader's son Hummam Quader Chowdhury with a 'copy of the verdict' in his hand at the court premises. File photo.

But before the verdict was announced, the BNP leader’s wife and other members of the family had showed ‘copies of the verdict’ to journalists, claiming they had found them on the internet.

Amid a furore over the incident, the ICT admitted that the draft of the verdict had indeed been leaked and the tribunal registrar had filed the case with police.

Police had pressed charges against the seven in August 2014.

The two ICT employees accused in the case and Salauddin's lawyer Fakhrul Islam were arrested in 2014.
 
The High Court in December last year granted Islam bail in the case.
 
The two ICT staff had confessed to court that they were involved in the leaking of the tribunal verdict.

Salauddin Quader had moved the Supreme Court challenging his death sentence. But the Appellate Division upheld his punishment.

He was hanged on Nov 21 last year after the top appeals court also threw out his petition to review the death penalty.