Breaking its silence over convictions by the two war crimes tribunals, the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said on Wednesday that its MP Salauddin Quader Chowdhury did not get justice. The BNP neither welcomed nor rejected the earlier verdicts.
“We are surprised after hearing the verdict. This verdict has lost acceptability because it had been leaked much before the court delivered it,” said its acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir a press conference.
The BNP, which on Wednesday enforced a daylong hartal in Chittagong — the convict’s hometown — and adjoining Rangamati in the Hill Tracts, also announced its decision to organise nationwide protests. The hartal was generally peaceful.
The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 that awarded death penalty to BNP lawmaker has termed the alleged “leak” as “a major conspiracy” involving a huge amount of money. “The conspiracy was to make the tribunal controversial,” said Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim, a member of the three-man tribunal.
The convict’s wife and family members showed newsmen a document they claimed was the “leaked judgment”. However, Attorney-General Mahbubey Alam had rubbished the claims and the tribunal is looking into the allegation.
As the “leaked judgment” was quickly shared on social networking media, the judge said there was a deliberate move to make the tribunal controversial.
Meanwhile, the war crimes tribunal filed a General Diary (GD) over the “supposed leak” of the verdict before it was delivered in court. The GD said there was no chance of leaking the verdict anywhere before it is delivered in court.
