Kh Mahbub sticks to his guns over war crimes trial

President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Khandker Mahbub Hossain prayed Tuesday for dismissing the plea of the chief prosecutor before the International Crimes Tribunal-1 seeking to draw contempt-of-court proceedings against him over the remarks he made on the current war crimes trial.
Advocate Tajul Islam, the counsel for the SCBA president, came up with the prayer during hearing on the pre-trial contempt-of-court case, according to a news agency.
The counsel told the three-member tribunal that his client Khandker Mahbub, also BNP chairperson’s adviser, had honestly made the statement over the ongoing war crimes trial and still he believes in it as every citizen has the right to take legal action under the law of the land.
Referring to his client, the counsel said if any false and fabricated evidence is produced in the tribunal should not go unpunished. “My client’s speech has been misinterpreted by the complainant-petitioner without understanding the role of the judiciary and the judges engaged in dispensation of justice,” argued Tajul.
The counsel claimed that the speech made by Khandker Mahbub in no way comes under the mischief of section 11 (4) of the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973.
At the outset of the hearings, the three-member tribunal, headed by Justice M Enayetur Rahim, got surprised seeing no representation from the prosecution panel as the pre-contempt petition was filed by the chief prosecutor.