Bangladesh war crimes trial on pause as pandemic rages

The International Crimes Tribunal prosecutors brought formal charges of crimes against humanity against 14 suspects, including Khan Ashraf Ali, from Bagerhat’s Morolganj-Kachua three and a half years ago.

Staff CorrespondentTabarul Huq, bdnews24.com
Published : 12 Oct 2020, 05:30 AM
Updated : 12 Oct 2020, 05:30 AM

The case has reached the deposition phase with the tribunal recording the testimony of a witness for the last time on Mar 19 before the offices and courts were shut during the countrywide lockdown over the coronavirus outbreak.

The tribunal has set Nov 18 for next hearing after several deferrals.

The only progress made in most of the 36 cases with the ICT was the change of hearing dates over the past six months amid the pandemic.

The tribunal heard the bail appeals of two suspects and recorded testimony of an investigation officer in a case during this period.

The prosecutors said the health risks involving the transportation of the witnesses from across the country made it difficult, if not impossible, to have their statements recorded.

The tribunal was also hamstrung with five of the prosecutors and some of their family members contracting the novel coronavirus.

The officials at the registrar and prosecution offices returned to work after the government relaxed the lockdown rules and allowed the offices to reopen.

Now, the judges are preparing for the resumption of in-person hearings. The courtroom structure is being tweaked with the installation of glass panels to divide the witness box, the enclosure for the defendants and other parts to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission.

The tribunal will resume the regular trial proceedings soon, said Prosecutor Zead-Al-Malum.

“The tribunal held hearings and issued orders whenever necessary though regular case proceedings could not take place during the shutdown. We hope the judges will be back to hold in-person hearings soon. The tribunal is gearing up for this,” he told bdnews24.com.

“The courtroom is being prepared so that social distancing and other health rules can be followed during physical sessions. We’ll complete the proceedings of the cases once the trials resume,” said another prosecutor, Rana Das Gupta.

Rana, who had recently recovered from COVID-19, expressed concerns over the risk of a possible second wave of the outbreak in Bangladesh while the situation has begun to worsen globally again.

“The winter is approaching and if the outbreak worsens, it will be hard to take the case proceedings forward despite all the preparations. We need to think about that as well,” he said.

CASES HALTED AT IMPORTANT STAGE

Justice Md Shahinur Islam is heading the three-member panel of judges at the tribunal. The other members are Justice Amir Hossain and Justice Md Abu Ahmed Jamadar.

With Justice Hossain on sick leave since Mar 22, the tribunal has deferred delivery of verdicts, hearing of arguments, the framing of charges and pressing of formal charges.

The verdict in the case against 11 suspects, including Khalilur Rahman, of Mymensingh has been awaited since Jan 26.

Another case is stuck at the stage of arguments hearing, one halted at the framing of charges, while nine others reached the stage of recognition of formal charges.

The tribunal is still recording depositions of witnesses in the rest of the 36 cases.

“The tribunal can record testimonies even if one of the members is on leave. But we can’t bring in a large number of witnesses together from different parts of the country due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. We’ll get one or two witnesses at a time to testify. Therefore, it will take more time,” said prosecutor Malum.

Only the full bench of the tribunal has the authority to receive formal complaints, hear arguments and deliver verdicts, said Rana. But one or two members can record the testimonies.

INVESTIGATIONS UNDERWAY

Though the hearings were irregular due to the pandemic, the investigation agency of the tribunal continued its work on new complaints amid the coronavirus crisis.

The investigators submitted two reports and other documents to the prosecution and are preparing to submit two or three more, said Sanaul Haque, the senior coordinator of the agency.

He hoped Justice Amir will recover and join the tribunal soon, clearing the path for the admittance of formal complaints.

The government will consider the situation if it takes longer for him to recover, Sanaul said.

The tribunal will resume its regular work soon, Law Minister Anisul Huq told bdnews24.com. “New cases will be filed. We hope the cases on trial will be disposed of.”

“We’ll try to solve the issue,” he said of Justice Hossain’s leave.

The government imposed a lockdown on Mar 26 in a bid to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The Supreme Court also announced the closure of the courts that time and extended it several times until May 30.

The government issued an ordinance on May 9 on e-justice system and later parliament passed it into a law to clear the path for the courts to use information technology, such as video conferencing, for hearings.

The courts resumed in-person hearings in August. Virtual hearings are also being held in some cases.