The prosecution on Thursday concluded arguments seeking capital punishment for the detained Jamaat nayeb-e-amir Delwar Hossain Sayedee for crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 War of Independence.
‘We have proved 19 charges against Sayedee beyond any doubt and I demand capital punishment prescribed in the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973,’ prosecutor Syed Haider Ali told the International Crimes Tribunal-1.
As the prosecutor concluded his arguments in the rehearing in the case, the tribunal fixed January 20-22 for rehearing the closing arguments of the defence.
The prosecution will, however, get one more hour to reply the defence arguments.
The closing arguments in the case had ended on December 6, 2012
and the case was awaiting verdict.
The tribunal on January 3 ordered rehearing of the summery of the closing arguments, as it was reconstituted on December 13, 2012 after the ending of arguments.
The tribunal was reconstituted after Justice Nizamul Huq had resigned on December 11, 2012 amid controversy over his reported Skype conversation with a Brussels-based Bangladeshi lawyer, Ahmed Ziauddin.
Sayedee was indicted on October 2, 2011 with 20 charges of crimes against humanity including murder, rape, arson and robbery committed in 1971. He was the first man to be indicted by the tribunal.
In his closing arguments, prosecutor Syed Haider Ali said that the prosecution produced 28 witnesses before the tribunal to prove 19 of the charges against Sayedee.
He said that the prosecution could not bring any witness but submitted documents to prove the 20th charge.
He said that the tribunal had received in evidence the statements of
16 prosecution witnesses recorded by the investigation officer.
The prosecutor also made arguments to discredit the defence witnesses and refute the defence plea that the accused was not in the crime site in Pirojpur but was in Jessore and that he had been facing trial for a mistaken identity.
The defence produced 17 defence witnesses to prove Sayedee’s innocence.
Sayedee was arrested on 29 June, 2010 following a police case for hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims.
On August 1, 2010, the tribunal ordered his detention in the in war crimes case.