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Dear Respected members of the media,

Today I am here in front of you with a heavy heart. I am here in front of you because I believe the tyrant government of Bangladesh has set the stage to judicially murder my father.

These are not just the words of a brokenhearted son; this is the opinion of renowned legal experts and international human rights organizations who have said that my father and the others targeted by the so-called  “international crimes tribunal” are victims of brazen plot by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and her party to remain in power. My father and his colleagues are not war criminals they are political pawns targeted to obliterate political opposition before next year’s scheduled elections

My father has a long illustrious political career stretching back half a century. Never before were allegations made, never before were charges filed until he and members of legitimate political parties became an electoral threat to the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. It was only then that charges were filed—charges based on contrived testimony from witnesses who were threatened, witnesses who were bribed, charges related to activities 40 years prior, charges with no credible physical evidence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Since the founding of independent Bangladesh, my father, Motiur Rahman Nizami has maintained an open and transparent public life. He held public offices for the immediate past BNP led government in Bangladesh. He is considered the most successful Agriculture and Industries Minister of the country. In a country where public offices are often buried under corruption and nepotism, my father was a rare political figure who was widely regarded as honest, competent and above reproach. His achievements were admired even by his opponents. Under his stewardship the nationalized sugar mills saw a profit for the first and only time.

I am very closely attached to my father, whenever I was away from home; I used to always talk to him even if it were for few minutes every day. For last 3 years—since his illegal detention--I have been deprived of that privilege.

He is now being tried before a renegade tribunal for crimes he never committed, for actions of which he has no knowledge. 

Whenever I talk to anybody about my father, the first question they ask is, ‘1971 was 42 years ago, why now? How have these allegations remained dormant for 42 years? If he were guilty, wouldn’t someone have said something earlier?’

          I don’t have an answer, I don’t know if anyone has a legitimate answer to that question. The only answer is that the charges are without basis in fact.

          My deep condolence goes to the victims, and their family members, who perished in 1971. This political witch-hunt in the name of their blood does not honor them, it is instead a sacrilege.

          The victims of 1971 would, I am sure, be troubled by how their memory is being politicized by this tribunal. In short, this tribunal has successfully managed to divide and rock the nation.

          Today I want to highlight the serious and deep flaws that took place during the trial of my father at the International Crimes Tribunal.

          In any non-despotic jurisdiction, the conduct of the tribunal would surely have resulted in misconduct charges for judges, prosecutors and investigative officials.

          The government ignored “international standards” and created their own rules, rules that they hide behind to justify their plan to murder the leaders of the political opposition.

          Firstly, the arrest of my father and the subsequent trial process were arbitrary, illegal and flawed from the beginning to end. On 23rd November 2011 the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention expressed its opinion that the detention of my father under the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal Act was arbitrary and illegal. The UN Working Group cited “significant restrictions” on the defendants’ (detainees’) access to legal assistance and their “unimpeded access to evidence.”

          The tribunal amended its own Rules of Procedure and gave that retrospective effect in order to construct a sham pretense to legitimize my father’s detention order.

          Secondly, the biggest scandal in the history of Bangladeshi Judiciary, namely the Skype Scandal revealed in the Economist magazine, the Wall Street Journal and other respected international publications, showed that charges, verdicts and death sentences were written before a single word of testimony was presented in court. All of this was at the direction of highest officials in government. The puppet masters running this trial invented a charge to be framed against my father by despite the fact that the Investigation officer did not bring that allegation at all in his investigation report.          In order to substantiate that charge the Investigation officer illegally reopened his investigation after it was officially completed and trial commenced. Further evidence and witness lists were submitted by the prosecution, even before the case was closed.

          Thirdly, The right of the accused to defend his case was substantially curtailed by the tribunal.

The prosecution was given 22 months for investigation. However, the defense has given only 3 weeks for their preparation. The prosecution was directed by government paid attorneys in Brussels and England. An internationally respected attorney was barred from appearing for the defense and eventually barred from the country.

          Furthermore, the prosecution was allowed to submit the list of 104 witnesses. Initially they

submitted a list of 65, then they further submitted a list of 6 and again they submitted a list of

28. Finally they again submitted a list of 5 additional witnesses. The tribunal did not limit the

number of prosecution witnesses.

          The prosecution took 14 months to adduce Prosecution Witnesses. However the defense has been given only 13 days for adducing their witnesses.

 

 

 

On 13th November 2013 the tribunal closed the case without giving the defense the opportunity to conclude their arguments. Later upon an application of the defense, the tribunal allowed the defense to submit their argument within two and half days, but allowed the prosecution to rebut a complete day. The prosecution tendered a new document in their rebuttal, the defense was not allowed to rebut those documents.

 

          Let me make clear my father’s role during the 1971 Independence period. My father was a prominent student leader in 1971. He was the president of all Pakistan Islami Chatra Shangha (Jamiyate Talaba). His daily activities were recounted in the print media and in police reports. Wherever he went in 1971, it was reported in newspaper and/or by the police.

          The prosecution’s allegation that my father physically participated in the atrocities that occurred in Pabna district is implausible because as there is no newspaper or police report that my father visited Pabna in 1971.

            The depositions of Prosecution witnesses are full of self-contradictions and are factually wrong. All of the prosecution witnesses confessed that they are related to the ruling party, Awami League and most of them receive benefit from the government.

          Witness intimidation and interference is the constant recurring theme of this trial. As many as 5 listed prosecution witnesses claimed on camera that they were forced, offered bribes, and in some cases tortured to give false testimony against my father.

          One of the witnesses, namely Advocate Mr. Shamsul Haq Nannu, in a secretly filmed video stated that government officials, including the Prime Minister, DGFI and State Minister of Home Affairs, forced him to testify against my father. He also claimed that he will be receive a 14 crore (140 million) Taka loan ($2 million) if he testifies. The video was allegedly filmed on 31st May and 10th July 2012 before his deposition in the tribunal on 20th June 2013. However, after the video was published on 18th September 2013, Mr. Nannu in a press conference, held in the prosecution office on 21st September 2013, categorically denied that he was the person speaking in the video. The defense filed an application before the tribunal asking to recall Mr. Nannu to allow cross examination regarding his video taped statements.

          The defence annexed with that application the photocopy of Mr. Nannu’s  passport, his pictured voter ID card and his picture in the advocates directory. The tribunal rejected the application with the observation that,  “It is apparently found from the application that P.W. 11 allegedly has made contradictory statement before different media and as such those subsequent statements are not fit for taking cognizance of it. Accordingly, the prayer for recalling P.W. 11 Shamsul Huq Nannu is rejected.”

          Subsequently the video of Mr. Nannu’s press conference in the prosecution office and the alleged secret video were sent to independent experts for forensic voice analysis. That revealed that the person in the disputed video was indeed Mr. Nannu. The analysis shows that Mr. Nannu was telling the truth when he stated that his testimony was false, that he was threatened and bribed. The analysis further shows that his denials were not believable.

          I would like to finish with a personal message. I know my father is an extremely brave person. If yet he has little chance of overturning a corrupt and compromised legal process by himself. If the international community does not intervene he will be killed. The civilized world cannot let

a government act with such tyranny and make a mockery of justice.

          Our demands are simple.

          This show trial must be stopped immediately and the international community needs to speak up publicly against this trial.

          An internationally supervised tribunal is the only way to bring justice to the victims of the 1971 war.

          There must also be a moratorium on all death sentences. Additional, unrighteous bloodshed is a disservice to the martyrs of 1971.

          All past, current and future trials at the ICT must be reviewed by an internationally supervised and sanctioned enquiry. The days of silent diplomacy are now over. I would urge the international community to hold the Hasina government accountable for this challenge to democracy in Bangladesh. If there is no action, it risks destabilizing the country for decades to come and plunging the region into another political crisis.

Thank you again for coming.

God bless.

Dr. Mohammad Nakibur Rahman

Proud Son of Motiur Rahman Nizami (Ameer, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami)

 

 

 

Transcript of Press Conference in National Press Club (Washington D.C) by Dr. M. Nakibur Rahman (Son of Motiur Rahman Nizami)

Tribunal Leaks.

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