Dhaka, Oct 20 (bdnews24.com)—A defence counsel told the Supreme Court on Tuesday the entire armed forces were involved with the assassination of independence hero 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman but suggested then deputy army chief Ziaur Rahman was not.
Barrister Abdullah Al Mamun, counsel for death convict retired major Bazlul Huda, made the contention at the hearing of arguments on appeals for the fourth day in the Bangabandhu murder trial.
It was General Zia, though, who ruled the country by clamping martial law after the Aug 15, 1975 military putsch.
The five-judge Appellate Division bench, headed by Justice Mohammed Tafazzal Islam, ended the hearing at 1:45pm with Mamun, the first of the defence counsels, concluding.
"The high-ranking officials including the army chief did not play any role in resisting the killing," Mamun said.
The apex court will hear arguments on Wednesday from another defence counsel, advocate Khan Saifur Rahman, lawyer for death convict Syed Farukur Rahman.
Mamun said in the hearing: "There was no purpose of killing Bangabandhu on Aug 15. The purpose was to persuade him to make an announcement in a bid to make him abort the programmes he had taken up.
"All members of the armed force were involved in the event," he said.
The court asked him: "What do you mean by 'all were involved'? Name them."
Mamun in his reply said: "Army chief Gen Shafiullah, col Safayat Jamil, Khaled Mosharraf, the then Bangladesh Rifles chief, the chiefs of Rakkhi Bahini, navy and army neglected to resist the event.
"Zia was the deputy army chief. A deputy army chief does not have enough power."
The court asked Mamun: "Is Ziaur Rahman the subject to present your arguments? Deliver your arguments on the main issue."
Mamun said: "Then home minister captain Mansur Ali told BDR chief brig gen Kholilur Rahman that day during the Fazr prayers that a number of people had occupied the radio station and asked him (the BDR chief) to make arrangements.
"But the BDR chief did neither took the matter seriously nor did he take any step.
"A number of army officials had made the occurrence. The army supported them spontaneously.
"The Directorate General of Forces Intelligence informed army chief Gen Shafiullah of the matter through a message at around 2:30am.
"Bangabandhu also called him (the army chief) when the army members entered his residence. But he did not take any action.
"Army officials including Khaled Mosharraf and Ziaur Rahman went to Shafiullah's house after the killing. Shafiullah was clad in plain clothes. Khaled Mosharraf was happy," Mamun said.
At the start of the hearing Mamun delivered his arguments in line with sections of Evidence Act, as instructed by the court on Monday.
"Now you are presenting you arguments properly," the court told Mamun.
He said: "The army members carried out a successful rebellion (coup) on Aug 15."
Mentioning the 'irrelevances' in the High Court ruling, the lawyer said: "Bazlul Huda was not involved with the plot.
"The real killers would be very happy if Huda is convicted based on the testimony. Such incidents will recur.
Mamun said the High Court verdict that Zia and Ershad rewarded the convicts was not right.
"They were sent to the foreign ministry on deputation from the army."
The court said only two, including Bazlul Huda, were in the army.
Mamun said: "Nobody disliked Bangabandhu as a leader. Only such a leader like him was capable of leading the country.
"The purpose of the army members was to refrain from his programmes, not to kill him. For that he was taken out of his room.
"Before Aug 15, 25 guards of Comilla cantonment were deployed at Bangabandhu's house. None of them was killed that day.
Mamun cited an example of robbery. "Nobody dies during robbery. Robbers die during the sharing of the booty."
The coups of Nov 3 and 7 took place over power-sharing, he said.
The court said: "We are not holding trial of the Nov 3 and 7 events, we are trying Aug 15 event.
Mamun said: "I am talking about army mutiny.
"The trial of the killing will be held in line with the act under which the accused remains. The commander-in-chief of the armed forces was killed on Aug 15. The convicts are also army members. So they are under Army Act.
"It is established that it was a rebellion. So the trial will be held at military court under Army Act.
Mamun continued: "The case was filed four months after the Awami League government came to power in 1996. There was no explanation for the delay in the ruling. The incident was staged by that time."
"The sessions judge in a letter sent to the Army Headquarters in 1997 sought approval to try the accused army members at the criminal court. The Army Headquarters said that it did not have any problem with that."
Mamun told reporters after hearing that 1,500 soldiers were involved with the event.
"This proves that the whole army was involved with the event," he said.
"The trial was not held under the Army Act in the criminal court. It would be wrong if the trial was held under normal law.
"Under the circumstances, the verdict should be revoked and another trial should be held following re-investigation in the case."
Mamun also said local and foreign plots were involved as were as top-ranking army officials.
"There were discontent in the army. Discontent brewed following incidents like formation of Rakkhi Bahini and ousting Taher and Ziaudddin from the army.
"The main reasons behind discontent was feud between army members who returned from Pakistan and those who were freedom fighters and conflict between Shafiullah and Ziaur Rahman and Khaled Mosharraf," Mamun contended.
The five-judge bench concluded the four-hour session from 9:45am, taking the appeals proceedings through the 12th day.
The top court reprimanded Mamun on Monday for his irrelevant presentation and wrong media briefing on Monday.
"You told the media we (the court) are obstructing you from presenting arguments. We asked you not to deliver the same points over and over again.
"We did not obstruct you. You should not make such comments to the media," the court said.
Mamun apologised for his remarks.
The court said: "You have annoyed us and delivered irrelevant statements. Give your deliberations on legal points."
The court said it had heard many arguments since 1969, but none like the ones of Mamun.
The lawyer was advised to take preparations before his presentations. "You should not present such statements before the highest court."
On Mamun's claim that the case against his client, retired Maj Bazlul Huda, was a conspiracy, the court said: "The arguments you have delivered did not have any relation with conspiracies."
"You will have to know the related regulations of Evidence Act to present deliberations on the matter."
The court at Sunday's hearing had granted Mamun half an hour to deliver one of the five arguments fixed in the leave to appeal.
The court reminded the lawyer the same at Monday's hearing. But he could not finish his arguments.
It said: "We think you are done with presenting your arguments on Bazlul Huda."
"Perhaps, you have not have studied the evidence. The less you speak the better for us."
Mamun said: "Nuruddin, who was present in Bangabandhu's house that night, was not made a witness. The verdict of the trial court was not right."
The court said no leave to appeal was granted on the ground that the verdict was not right.
Mamun said: "Since the court gave the benefit of doubt in the testimony given by defendant Abdul Wahab Zoarder the trial court acquitted him."
"But Bazlul Huda was not given any chance though his condition was similar," he said.
Mamun told reporters after Monday's hearing he had presented before the court many troubling points of the statements given by the witnesses.
At Sunday's hearing, Mamun had questioned the role of the then army chief K M Shafiullah and air force chief A K Khandker on Aug 15, 1975.
The court has also heard that both local and foreign machinations were involved in the killing of then president Sheikh Mujib.
Earlier in the appeals proceedings, before defence counsel began presenting arguments, the bench concluded hearings on rulings given by previous judges on the case.
A freshly formed Supreme Court bench began hearing the long-stalled appeals proceedings on Oct 5 to conclude the Mujib assassination case more than three decades after the event.
Chief justice MM Ruhul Amin constituted the bench the day before with justices Mohammed Abdul Aziz, Bijoy Kumar Das, Mohammed Mozammel Hossain and Surendra Kumar Sinha being the other members.
None was allowed to file a case immediately after the assassination on Aug 15, 1975.
The government of Khandker Mustaque Ahmed that was installed after the bloody military coup passed an ordinance in November that year indemnifying the perpetrators and closing the door on the possibility of a trial.
The Awami League government revoked the indemnity ordinance in 1996 and cleared the way for the trial. President Mujib's personal assistant Muhitul Islam finally filed a case on Oct 2, 1996 with Dhanmondi Police Station against 24 persons.
On Nov 8, 1998, Dhaka sessions judge Golam Rasul awarded death sentences to 15 of the 20 accused.
Four of the convicts—Major (retd) Bazlul Huda, Lt Col (dismissed) Syed Faruk Rahman, Lt Col (retd) Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan and Lt Col (retd) Mohiuddin Ahmed—appealed to the High Court against the verdict.
On Dec 14, 2000, the High Court gave a split verdict in the case—Justice Md Ruhul Amin upheld death sentences of 10 of the convicts but Justice A B M Khairul Haque retained death sentences of all the 15.
On April 30, 2001 Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim of a third High Court bench upheld death sentences of 12 and acquitted three.
Of the 12 death convicts, four submitted 'leave to appeal' in the Appellate Division in the same year.
Another death convict, lancer AKM Mohiuddin, made an appeal from jail after he was deported from the United States on June 18 last year.
Of those having received death sentence, former Lt col Abdur Rashid, Lt Col Shariful Haq Dalim, Lt Col Noor, Risalder Moslemuddin, Lt Col Rashed Chowdhury and Capt Majed are absconding.
Absconding convict Aziz Pasha died in exile in Zimbabwe.
bdnews24.com/at/rb/su/wz/rah/bd/1729h.
