War crimes charges levelled against five people from Moulvibazar

The war crimes tribunal’s prosecution have pressed charges against five people for committing crimes against humanity in Moulvibazar during the 1971 war.

Five charges of murder, genocide, abduction and torture have been levelled against Samsul Hossain Tarafdar alias Ashraf, Md Nesar Ali, Yunus Ahmad, Ozaer Ahmad Chowdhury and Mobarak Mia.

Prosecutors Sultan Mahmud Shimon and Abul Kalam filed the chargesheet to the International Crimes Tribunal on Thursday.

The court has fixed Jun 9 to hear the matter, Kalam told bdnews24.com.

Of the five accused, Yunus Ahmed and Ozaer Ahmad Chowdhury were produced before the court on Thursday. The others are absconding, said the prosecution.

In October 2014, the prosecution’s investigation wing started a probe against the five and filed its report in January last year.

Police arrested Ozaer and Yunus on Oct 13, 2015 after the tribunal issued warrants for them following a plea by the prosecution.

According to the probe report, Samsul Hossain Tarafdar was the local al Badr chief while Nesar Ali was the Razakar commander in Moulvibazar.

The others have been accused of committing war crimes as members of the Razakar force.