Jailed Jamaat leader Sayedee seeks acquittal

By Mizan Rahman/DhakaState and defence counsels yesterday filed separate appeal petitions with the Supreme Court against the verdict of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) that awarded death sentence to Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee for 1971 war crimes.Sayedee’s lawyers filed the appeal petition with the appellate division seeking his release and acquittal of the proved war time charges.Sayedee’s lawyer Advocate Farid Uddin said, “We also filed the petition seeking his release and cancellation of the verdict.” Sayedee’s chief counsel Barrister Abdur Razzak will lead the appeal hearing for the defense side.The state prosecutors later filed another petition seeking Sayedee’s punishment in the rest of war time charges proved during the ICT trial. Fariduddin Khan said the appeal and its supporting documentation runs into 6,500 pages.The first war crimes tribunal headed by Justice ATM Fazle Kabir handed down death penalty to Delwar Hossain Sayedee on February 28. Justice Kabir said that eight of the 20 charges of crimes against humanity against Sayedee have been proved conclusively. Two of these charges pertained to mass murders. The tribunal ordered Sayedee to be hanged until death. The tribunal ruled that the prosecution had successfully established the fact that Sayedee was a Razakar (an auxiliary force of the Pakistan army) leader at Pirojpur district during the 1971 liberation war.Prosecutor Syed Haider Ali said Sayedee had been awarded death penalty on two counts of mass murder but no verdict was issued on six other charges that were proven against him.He said there was sufficient evidence to prove his complicity in the 12 other charges but he was let off on those.“The state has decided to appeal against all charges he (Sayedee) was acquitted of. We will also ask for justice in the other charges,” Haider Ali said.Out of 20 charges levelled against the two-time former member of the Parliament, he was acquitted in 12, including genocide. The court said that the prosecution had failed to prove them beyond a shadow of doubt.Sayedee was found guilty in eight charges including two for murder and persecution. These were the eighth and tenth charges. Sayedee was accused of murder of Ibrahim Kutti, abduction and persecution in the eighth charge.The indictment order said on May 8, 1971 around 3pm Sayedee, his accomplices and Pakistani troops raided the house of Manik Posari of Chitholia village. They set fire to five houses at Sayedee’s instance.The band of men caught Manik’s brother Mafizuddin and one Ibrahim Kutti from there. On their way back Sayedee is said to have instigated Pakistani soldiers to kill Ibrahim Kutti. Kutti was then shot dead and his body dumped into the river. Mafiz was taken to an army camp and tortured. Thereafter, Sayedee and others set fire to Hindu houses at Parerhat causing huge devastation.The judgement notes that Mafizuddin Poshari, caught along with Kutti and taken to the local Razakar camp and tortured, luckily escaped from there alive. Mafiz was deposed at the tribunal as the seventh prosecution witness. “He (Mafiz) categorically testified that (Sayedee) as a member of Razakar Bahini caught them at the crime site and ultimately Ibrahim was killed by Pak Army.”The tribunal continued, “We find no reason to disbelieve evidence of (Mafiz) as to murder of Kutti and destruction of houses of civilians on a large scale by setting fire which constitute crimes against humanity.”Jamaat’s chief defence counsel Abdur Razzaq said regarding the charge that Kutti’s wife had not accused Sayedee but other people when she filed a murder case in 1973.The court, however, said the related documents produced before the court by the defence had to be proven to be authentic. Razzaq said that Sayedee could not even have been held responsible in the case. “Let alone murder.”The other murder charge has Sayedee, Razakars and Pak Army troops raid a Hindu community of Umedpur village on June 6, 1971 around 10am. They burnt 25 houses, including Bishabali’s. At one stage Bishabali was tied to a coconut tree and, at Sayedee’s insistence, shot dead by an accomplice.The judgement states after critical analysis of the three witness testimonies, “It is evident that one civilian named Bishabali was caught and tortured by Razakars, thereafter victim Bishabali was fastened to a coconut tree and he was shot dead by a Razakar at the insistence of accused Sayedee.”The verdict states that prosecution witnesses Mahtabuddin Howladar and Altab Hossain Howladar “have proved the occurrence of burning dwelling houses of unarmed civilians…as well as killing of Bishabali at the insistence of the accused as eyewitness of the occurrence.”The verdict then states: “It is well proved that the accused was involved with the commission of murder and persecution within the purview of crimes against humanity.”Tribunal chairman Justice Fazle Kabir reading out the last part of the 58-page summary said the judges had considered the seriousness of Sayedee’s offences.The judge then said that the tribunal was refraining from passing any separate sentence of imprisonment for the other six offences although they were proven beyond doubt as the accused was already sentenced to death.