The International Crimes Tribunal-1 yesterday fixed April 12 when it will decide if charges will be framed against four Netrakona men in a case filed for allegedly committing crimes during the Liberation War in 1971.
The three-member tribunal led by Justice Md Shahinur Islam fixed the date after the prosecution and defence counsels completed their submissions on charges.
Prosecutor Rana Dasgupta prayed for framing of charges to initiate trial against the accused while defence counsels Masum Rana and Gazi MH Tamim prayed for discharging their clients from the case.
The accused are Khalilur Rahman, 72, his brother Azizur Rahman, 65, Ashak Ali, 82, and Shahnewaz, 88, of Durgapur upazila. Of them, Khalilur is on the run while the rest are in jail.
On May 2 last year, the prosecution pressed five charges against the four, saying that the accused were involved in murder of 22 people, rape of two women, arson attacks and looting of 15 houses in Durgapur and Kalmakanda areas in Netrakona between May 10 and November 18 in 1971.
The tribunal's investigation agency on January 30 last year completed investigating the case and said that it has found wartime crime evidence against the four -- all presently supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami.
Of them, Khalilur was a member of Islami Chhatra Sangha, the then student wing of Jamaat, in 1971. He first joined the Razakar Bahini and later on the Al-Badr Bahini, the agency said.
The other three accused were supporters of Muslim League and joined the Razakar Bahini in 1971, the agency added. The five incidents of crimes they were “involved” in are killing one person and abducting another at Bhulipara village of Durgapur, looting and launching arson attacks on houses at Anandapur and Noagaon villages in Kalmakanda, killing six people on the bank of the Bakla river, killing five people in Shingpur village, and killing (10 people) and raping in Durgapur.
