War crimes trial of former NSI chief Wahidul Haque opens

The International Crime Tribunal has opened the trial of a former director general of the National Security Intelligence, Wahidul Haque, over the case of war crime charges that date back to the Liberation War in 1971.

Haque, also former chief of the Department of Immigration and Passports, has been charged with crimes against humanity, including killing and torture.

On Wednesday, a three-member tribunal led by Justice Shahinur Islam set Nov 24 as the date to begin the prosecution and testimony against the suspect.

Prosecutor Zeyad Al Malum, Sultan Mahmud Simon Rezia Sultana Chaman and Tapas Kanti Boll were the prosecution lawyers as Mizanur Rahman and Abdus Sobhan Tarafdar were the legal counsel for Wahidul Haque.

Haque pleaded not guilty to the charges and sought justice from the court.

“The documents and proofs that the prosecution presented against my client do not show that he had committed those crimes. We pleaded for his acquittal but the tribunal formed charges against him," Tarafdar told bdnews24.com.

Haque was a member of the Pakistan army during the Liberation War. He joined the police force in 1974 after returning to Bangladesh. He was made the chief of NSI in the 1990s and later was appointed as the director general of the Department of Immigration and Passports.

As a member of the Pakistan army, Haque committed war crimes, including killing in the Rangpur Cantonment and genocide, prosecutors said.