The verdict in a crimes-against-humanity case against former DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman and five police members — over the shooting of a young man hanging from a cornice and the killing of two people in the capital’s Rampura during the July movement — will be delivered on Sunday. The verdict proceedings will be broadcast live on Bangladesh Television (BTV).
Prosecutor Gazi MH Tamim gave the information to the media on Saturday afternoon. “The reconstituted International Crimes Tribunal’s fifth verdict will be delivered on 28 June. Tribunal-1 will deliver this verdict against five people. The entire verdict proceedings will be broadcast live on BTV. A total of 13 people, including the investigating officer, testified in this case,” he said.
Of the five accused in the case, only the then ASI of the Rampura police outpost, Chanchal Chandra Sarkar, is under arrest. The other four are former DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman, former ADC of the Khilgaon zone Md Rashedul Islam, former officer-in-charge of Rampura police station Md Mashiur Rahman, and former sub-inspector of Rampura police station Tarikul Islam Bhuiyan.
Earlier, on 15 June, the prosecution and defence completed a second round of arguments. That day, lawyer Sarwar Jahan Nippon first presented arguments on behalf of the then ASI Chanchal Chandra Sarkar, claiming his client had no involvement in the incident. But chief prosecutor Aminul Islam had sought the maximum punishment for all five accused. After arguments from both sides, the tribunal set 28 June for the verdict.
On 10 June, the then ASI Chanchal Chandra Sarkar again gave a defence statement, in which he also made an allegation against a prosecutor. This accused first testified on 13 January this year. Apart from Chanchal, the others in the case are fugitives.
The verdict had been scheduled for 4 March, but the prosecution applied to submit new digital evidence. After that, Amir Hossain, who had testified as the first witness, had to testify again.
The prosecution formally submitted charges against the accused to the tribunal on 7 August last year. On 18 September, Tribunal-1 formally framed charges against the five accused and ordered the trial to begin.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report