Sound system disorder forces ICT-1 to adjourn proceedings

The scheduled war crimes trial proceedings could not take place at the International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) Thursday as its electronic device for recording evidence failed to operate, reports UNB.

As the tribunal resumed, Justice M Enayetur Rahim, chairman of the three-member tribunal, told both the defence and the prosecution that the recording of evidence through cross-examinations of the prosecution witnesses over the Bagerhat war crimes case will not be possible due to sound system disorder. It may take 2-3 hours to make it operational again, said the chairman, referring to its IT expert.

"The IO has been engaged in tutoring the prosecution witness (PW-8 Anandalal Das) in a subtle manner during the trial, breaching Section 11 (4) of the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973," alleged defence counsel Sarwar Hossain.

Opposing the defence plea, prosecutor Syed Haider Ali described the allegation as a mere guess and also baseless, vague and false. The question of abusing the trial process by the IO does not arise since the PW was a natural witness, the prosecutor said.

After hearing both the sides, the tribunal, taking cognisance of the defence plea, fixed December 28 for order on the matter.