The first war crimes tribunal indicted one Mobarak Hossain, hailing from Brahmanbaria, for five war crimes charges including murder, abduction and torture.
Published : 23 Apr 2013, 07:53 AM
Mobarak, also known as Mobarak Ali, pleaded not guilty as the charges were not explained to him in Bengali.
He had told the tribunal Chairman, Justice ATM Fazle Kabir, that he was not able to understand English.
The three-judge International Crimes Tribunal – 1, set up to try crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, will begin hearing the case from May 16.
This will be followed by the trial, during which witnesses will testify.
The tribunal also rejected Mobarak's plea for bail.
The prosecution on Apr 10 formally presented war crimes charges including abduction, confinement, murder and crimes against humanity, against, what it said, a Razakar Commander during 1971.
It specifically said charges against Mobarak include murdering 33 residents of Akhaura’s Tanmandayl, abduction and killing of a student named ‘Asuranjan’, torturing and killing of Abdul Khaleque, Abdul Malek and ‘Siraj’ of Kharompur village.
He denied those charges.
Mobarak is an alleged former member of Jamaat-e-Islami and said to have joined the Awami League later on. The 62-year-old from Akhaura of Brahmanbaria, is also accused of genocide in the locality.
The tribunal gave him a two-month bail on Jul 15 last year and later ordered him to jail scrapping his bail on Mar 12 this year.
Investigation body of the tribunal probed allegations against him from Jul 16 last year to Jan 22 this year.