A Storm In The ICT-BD: The day the chief prosecutor threatened the defense

On Sunday, Courtroom No. 1 of the International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-BD) in Dhaka became a battleground. What began as a routine hearing in the enforced-disappearance case against retired Major General Ziaul Ahsan rapidly descended into one of the most shocking confrontations ever witnessed in a Bangladeshi courtroom.

At the centre of the storm stood Advocate Nazneen Nahar—defense counsel, elder sister of the accused, and a seasoned Supreme Court lawyer who had never before been spoken to in this manner in thirty years of practice.

The Trigger

Nazneen Nahar told the three-judge bench, chaired by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, that although the tribunal had ordered that a lawyer must be present during her client’s interrogation at the Dhanmondi “safe house,” the order was being flouted:

– She was never formally informed of interrogation dates. 

– When she turned up, she was kept in an adjacent room—unable to see or hear her client. 

– On one occasion, she was allowed in only during the lunch break and then locked out again. 

– Most disturbingly, Nabila Idris, a member of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (CIED), was actively interrogating Ziaul Ahsan and, according to Nazneen, threatening him: “If you do not answer, your daughter will become an orphan.” 

– The entire interrogation was being secretly video-recorded—something the ICT Act and Rules do not authorise.

Nazneen filed a simple application: “Please issue a clear direction that future interrogations must be conducted strictly in accordance with the law and that the defense lawyer is informed and allowed visual access.”

The Chief Prosecutor Explodes

Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam, who is a former leader of AB Party—Jamaat’s camouflaged offshoot, lost all composure.

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He interrupted Nazneen repeatedly, shouting: “You stay silent! Do not talk! You can also be made an accused. We are getting allegations against you from different quarters!”

When the chairman reminded Tajul that Nazneen was appearing as counsel, the prosecutor doubled down:

“This man (Ziaul Ahsan) has killed around 1,000 people and dumped their bodies in the Buriganga after cutting open their abdomens!”

He dismissed every complaint as “blatant lies,” defended Nabila Idris’s presence, and justified the secret video recording “so that no one can later falsely claim maltreatment.”

When Nazneen insisted on her modest prayer for lawful procedure, Tajul Islam went further:

– Reject the petition—it does not cite specific sections. 

– She is a family member of the accused and is “creating a lot of problems.” 

– The prosecution will move to remove her from the case altogether. 

– “You always shout. Your behaviour is offensive!”

Nazneen replied calmly: “You are the one saying offensive things.”

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Justice Mortuza had to intervene several times, asking both sides to calm down. Eventually, the tribunal allowed the appointment of a foreign lawyer (subject to Bar Council formalities) but deferred the call-record petition until after the framing of charges.

The Interview—Nazneen Nahar Speaks for the First Time

Two days later, on November 25, Nazneen Nahar gave her first full-length television interview. Speaking with remarkable restraint but unmistakable pain, she explained:

1. She is Ziaul Ahsan’s immediate elder sister. 

2. Despite the tribunal’s August order that a lawyer must be present, she was deliberately sidelined. 

3. Nabila Idris has no legal authority to interrogate an accused in ICT-BD custody; the CIED’s mandate does not override the ICT Act. 

4. Secret video recording is not permitted under the Act or Rules; her client refused because he feared editing and manipulation. 

5. She only asked for future interrogations to follow the law—nothing more.

She revealed the human cost:

– Her brother was taken from his home on 7 August under the pretext that the army chief wanted to see him. 

– For nine days, the family had no news; she even went to the cantonment, fearing he had been killed. 

– Their family’s house in Nakshatra Barracks was ransacked; laptops, a safe, and even bathroom fittings disappeared. 

– False stories were planted that Ziaul Ahsan had fled the country or that crores of taka were recovered from his home. 

– Her husband (a former SEC official) has been served with DUAC notices; their ancestral property is now being measured as “Ziaul Ahsan’s asset.”

Yet she repeatedly emphasised: “I am not afraid. I have practised for thirty years. Everyone in the Supreme Court knows I have never taken unfair advantage of being Ziaul Ahsan’s sister. What hurts is that a prosecutor threatened a lawyer in open court—something unprecedented in Bangladesh’s legal history.”

A Sister’s Portrait of the Brother the Media Calls a Monster

Nazneen described a very different Ziaul Ahsan from the demonic figure painted daily on television:

– A highly decorated para-commando, three-times “Best Instructor” of the Infantry School. 

– Never posted to DGFI (contrary to prosecution claims). 

– Played a key role in crushing militancy when Bangladesh was a “red-alert zone.” 

– Personally funded houses, tube wells, and medical treatment for countless villagers—not just in Barishal but across the country. 

– When Rana Plaza collapsed, he arrested the owner, Sohel Rana; the reward money he received was placed in a trust that still pays quarterly stipends to victims’ children.

“My brother himself says, ‘I am just the salt in the curry—without salt the dish is tasteless, but no one eats only salt.’ Yet every crime in the last 15 years is being poured on his head.”

The Larger Fear

Nazneen Nahar ended with a quiet warning and a plea: “This is no longer about one officer. If a lawyer can be threatened in open court that ‘you can also be made an accused,’ then no defense lawyer in Bangladesh is safe. Media trials have already declared my brother guilty. I only ask: wait for the court’s verdict before you call a man a mass murderer.”

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As she signed off, her voice finally cracked: “My brother says he will return from this darkness either on a stretcher or wearing garlands of flowers. He is a commando; he will never bow his head.  Please pray for us.”

In a country where the rule of law is already under strain, November 23 will be remembered as the day a chief prosecutor told a defense lawyer, in front of three judges and a packed courtroom: “You could also be an accused.”

And the tribunal sat in stunned silence.