DHAKA: The unfinished hearing on prosecution plea for arrest warrant against Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee on war-crime charges was deferred to October 12 as he was not produced before the International Crimes Tribunal Wednesday on health grounds.

Tribunal Chairman Justice Nizamul Haque Nasim announced the 20-day deferment as the Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Amir was absent because of his sickness.

“The hearing will be held in presence of the accused,” he said, as the court set the fresh date.  

Meanwhile, prosecutor Syed Haider Ali filed a supplementary petition seeking tribunal order issuing arrest warrant against Sayedee in the case filed against him on charge of committing “crimes against humanity and peace” during the War of Liberation in 1971.

The tribunal Tuesday held back from issuing warrant against Sayedee, already detained in other cases, as state prosecutors failed to produce ‘proper grounds’ for ordering his arrest on war-crime charges.
 
Earlier, the authorities had been directed twice to produce Sayedee before the tribunal on August 10 and 24. But the dates were deferred for Sayedee’s sickness and renovation work on the court building.

Besides, the investigation team of the International Crimes Tribunal on Sunday began a second round of investigation into two cases filed against Sayedee in his home-district Pirojpur.

Earlier on Monday, the International Crimes Tribunal investigators claimed that they had gathered enough evidences of 12 persons, including former Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Golam Azam and detained top leaders of the party, having committed ‘crimes against humanity’ during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.

Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary-General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and Nayeb-e-Ameer Delwar Hossain Sayedee were arrested on June 29 on charges of hurting religious sentiments of Muslims through their perceived blasphemous comments.

Later, assistant secretaries-general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Mollah were arrested from the High Court gate on July 13 in a murder-and-arson case filed with Pallabi thana by an injured freedom fighter in January 2008.

The International Crimes Tribunal under the 1973 act is holding the trial of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the Liberation War.

After having secured bail in other cases against them, the top Jamaat leaders are now held in jail to stand trial on charges of the wartime crimes.

BDST: 1259 HRS, SEP 22, 2010.