The trial of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) mutineers will finally start on November 24, sources close to the prosecutors confirmed. The trial will start from Rangamati district, which is under jurisdiction of the Special Court-4 out of the six special courts set up on November 15 in a bid to start the trial of the BDR mutineers. The trial of the mutineers will also later hold in Satkhira district.

A total of nine members of the BDR will face the trial for their involvement in the mutiny in Rangamati on February 26, a day after the bloody massacre took place inside the BDR Headquarters in Dhaka, the sources said. A total of 75 people including 56 army officers were killed in the carnage. In accordance with the BDR Act, commanding officers of the respective battalions will file complaints against the border guards involved in the mutiny, the sources said. With the taking of the complaints into cognisance by the court, the trial will kick off, the sources said.

The government had already appointed 10 special prosecutors to help the prosecutors to conduct the prosecution of the trial, the sources said. Commanding officers of the respective battalions will conduct the trial of the prosecution according to the BDR ACT. A total of 10-deputy attorneys general have also been appointed to help the three-member team of the judge, the sources said. As per the BDR ACT, the DG of the paramilitary force will preside over the three-member special courts, he said, adding that two officials from the Lieutenant Colonel and Major ranks would be the other members of the court. Nominated representatives of the Attorney General will assist the special courts, he said. The courts will only try the BDR mutineers, he said.

According to the BDR Act, there is scope for the accused to defend themselves during the trial proceeding of the cases. An accused can get assistance from an officer of the force or a lawyer for his self-defence, as per the act. On November 15, six 'special courts', two in Dhaka and four outside the capital, were set up to start trial of the BDR mutineers. The special courts were set up under the Bangladesh Rifles Order-1972. Of the courts, two were set up at Dhaka and four others outside the capital, he said. The courts will be set up at the places of occurrence or near the spots for holding the trial smoothly.

The special courts, which were set up are Special Court-1 (jurisdiction area: sectors, battalions, installations under Khulna, Rajshahi and Kushtia), Special Court-2 (jurisdiction area: sectors, battalions, installations under Dinajpur and Rangpur), Special Court-3 (jurisdiction area: sectors, battalions, installations under Sylhet, Comilla and Mymensingh), Special Court-4 (jurisdiction area: sectors, battalions, installations under Chittagong, Rangamati and Khagrachhari) Special Court-5 (jurisdiction area: Dhaka sector and battalions under it) and Special Court-6 (jurisdiction area: signal sector, headquarters battalion, BDR Hospital, Rifles Security Unit and installations under BDR headquarters in Dhaka).

The government has decided to try the accused for offences like killings, attempt to murder, looting and arson committed during the February 25-26 BDR mutiny, at the speedy trial tribunal under the penal code. Other offences like violating discipline and defying superiors' orders at the Peelkhana BDR headquarters and other BDR stations across the country will be tried under the BDR laws. The maximum punishment under the penal code is death while under the BDR laws it is seven years' imprisonment. A total of 75 people, including 54 army officers, were killed during the carnage at the Peelkhana headquarters in the capital on February 25 and 26. A case was lodged against over 1,000 members of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) naming six people, including Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) Touhidul Alam, for their alleged involvement in the mass killing, looting, arson, firing gunshots and exploding grenades. Officer-in-Charge (OC) of the Lalbagh police station Nabojyoti Khisha filed the case. A total of 41 cases were filed in connection with the BDR mutiny at Peelkhana and other BDR camps across the country. Of them, one case was filed in Dhaka while the rest were filed in other places, where the mutiny took place.

The 11-member national inquiry committee on the BDR carnage in February submitted its report to the government with a recommendation for holding the trial under the Army Act. Following the recommendation, the government sent a reference through the President to the Supreme Court (SC) for its opinion whether the BDR mutineers could be tried under the Army Act. The Supreme Court (SC) appointed 10 senior lawyers as amici curiae to hear their opinions on the presidential reference. After six days of deliberations of the 10 amici curiae (friends of court), the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) sent its opinion to the President stating that the BDR mutineers could not be tried under the Army Act. Seven out of the 10 amici curiae opined before the apex court that the BDR mutineers could not be tried under the Army Act since the BDR personnel were not guided by the Army Act, 1952, while two amici curiae said that the BDR mutineers could be tried under the Army Act by issuing two separate gazette notifications. The other amicus curiae suggested that the SC should return the presidential reference without any opinion, considering it as 'premature'.

-The Independent