Let tribunal take a call on Jamaat trial: Shafique

The decision to try Jamaat-e-Islami on charges of war crimes as a party should be left entirely to the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), former law minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed has said. His comment comes amid the furore that followed a comment by Law Minister Anisul Haque who claimed the party cannot be tried under the current laws. 'Only the International Crimes Tribunal has the jurisdiction to decide on this matter, this I will say as a lawyer,' said Ahmed, who was in office when the first tribunal was formed in 2010. 'The matter will come to the tribunal, and that will be the right time for a decision.' Haque's comment, for some, has shed doubt on the zeal to try Jamaat for its role during the Liberation War in 1971, even after the investigators slapped seven charges of war crimes against the party in their report submitted in March. The minister, however, did say that the law will be reformed to make way for the trial. The legal method is to investigate the person or group in question before filing cases with any court or tribunal. 'If the probe finds evidence and witnesses, the ICT's prosecution team will discuss it with them. The matter will go before the tribunal if both (investigators and prosecution) decide to file a case,' according to bdnews24.com.