Former Information Minister Mohammad Ali Arafat has condemned the appointment of BNP leader Barrister Md. Shofiul Alam Mahmood to the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD) as a judge, saying it clearly exposes the extent of political influence over the judicial process.
Also a member of the Awami League Central Executive Committee, Arafat, on Wednesday, said that Shofiul had direct ties to BNP politics. He previously held the position of Organising Secretary of the Supreme Court Nationalist Lawyersโ Forum, a wing of the BNP.
Sheikh Hasina vows to handcuff Yunus, tie rope around his waist
He was elected to the Supreme Court Bar Association from the BNP panel in 2019.
Shofiul was a practising lawyer before being appointed as a High Court judge just six days before being placed on the Jamaat-controlled ICT-BD judgeโs panel. He had no previous experience serving as a judge or handling judicial responsibilities, Arafat said in a post on X.
โSheikh Hasina is being tried in the court of a man who is associated with BNP politics and was a mastermind of the July conspiracy. This clearly shows how politically influenced this trial process is,โ he added.
Awami League President and five-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina faces command responsibility charges for the killing of up to 1,400 protesters during the 2024 uprisingโdeaths the UN says were part of a state-sponsored crackdown.
How Bangladeshโs judiciary is being destroyed under the watch of Chief Justice Refaat Ahmed
ICT-BD: Sheikh Hasina slams General Waker for insults to army officers
Former lawyer of the 1971 war criminals and the Chief Prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD), Tajul Islam, has demanded the death penalty, calling her โthe nucleus around whom all crimes were committed.โ
But Sheikh Hasina rejected the charges outright and termed it a kangaroo court. She said that the Yunus regime has no legitimacy to amend the ICT Act 1973 through ordinances. Moreover, she asked for the list of 1,400 deceased.
So far, only 834 have been gazetted, and dozens of them are false claims.
Recently, she told AFP: โThe charges are not supported by any evidence. This is a trial in absentia by an unelected administration of my political opponents. A guilty verdict is preordained. I will not be surprised when it comes on November 13.โ
She dismissed audiotapesโverified by policeโallegedly showing her ordering โlethal forceโ as โtaken out of context.โ
โThe charge that I personally directed security forces to open fire is bogus,โ she said, admitting only that โsome mistakes were made within the chain of command. The decisions were proportionate, made in good faith, to minimise loss of life.โ
Sheikh Hasina said she would only accept a โtruly impartialโ trial โ such as at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
English