The Supreme Court has asked all including the media and lawyers to be restraint in delivering briefing on the Bangabandhu murder appeals hearing. The court ended second day's hearing at 1:30pm on Tuesday.

The five-judge bench of the Appellate Division gave the directive on the second day of hearing on Tuesday that began shortly after 10am at the more spacious second trial room of the court building. The court began hearing the appeals on Monday in the third trial room. At the start of the hearing attorney general Mahbubey Alam told the court that different lawyers were making different comments on the case which was not right. The court can give order asking all to be restraint on the matter, he said.

Abdullah Al Mamun, lawyer for convicts retired major Bazlul Huda and lancer AKM Mohiuddin, said both the state and the defence should be restraint in delivering statements. The attorney general's office should be careful in delivering statements. Alam had earlier said that the case would be resolved within this year, he pointed out. The court said that not only both the parties (prosecution and defence), but all including the media should be restraint on the matter.

Khan Saifur Rahman, counsel for Syed Faruk Rahman, one of the convicts, drew the court's attention to his appeal on submission of a concise statement, a summary by the prosecution on its arguments against the appeals. The court did not make any comment on that matter. Mamun started reading out from page No 691 of the paperbook at the order of the court. He finished 608-691 pages out of 1,530 pages of the paperbook during Monday's hearing. The freshly formed bench headed by justice Mohammed Tafazzal Islam began the hearing on Monday. Chief justice M M Ruhul Amin constituted the bench on Sunday with justices Mohammed Abdul Aziz, Bijoy Kumar Das, Mohammed Mozammel Hossain and Surendra Kumar Sinha being the other members.

-bdnews

Court asks lawyers, media
to keep tongue in check

The New Age: The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked lawyers and journalists to be cautious in talking about or reporting on the hearing in the appeals in the Sheikh Mujib murder case. The five-judge Appellate Division bench, headed by Justice Tafazzul Islam, warned the lawyers and journalists as the attorney general, Mahbubey Alam, alleged some lawyers were talking to the media about the merit of the case.

The defence counsel, Abdullah Al Mamun, told the court the attorney general should also be cautious as he told the media the appeals would be disposed of by this year. The court said, ‘Not only the lawyers from both sides, but also all including media people, need to be restricted from making comment on the merit of the case.’ The court, however, on Tuesday did not hear the petition filed by condemned convict Syed Faruque Rahman’s counsel Khan Saifur Rahman seeking that the government should not be allowed to place arguments in the case for belated submission of the concise text of its arguments.

In the first day’s hearing on Monday, the court ordered inclusion of the petition in for Tuesday list of the cases to be heard. In the second day’s hearing on Tuesday, the court asked Saifur to make his submission on the petition during his arguments in the appeals. The court on Tuesday continued hearing the paper book, summary of three High Court judgments upholding death sentences of 12 former army men for killing the country’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and all but two of this family on August 15, 1975. Condemned convicts Bazlul Huda and AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed’s counsel Abdullah Al Mamun continued reading out from the verdict delivered by Justice M Ruhul Amin, who had headed the two-member High Court bench, on December 14, 2000 that upheld the death sentences of 10 convicts. Till Tuesday, Mamun has read out 773 pages of the paper book containing 1,530 pages.

No comment on case’s merit, just statements: SC

The Indepedent: The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday asked the lawyers of both the prosecution and defence to make statements only on the case proceedings and refrain from making any comments about the merit of the Bangabandhu Murder Case. The court also asked the media to publish and broadcast reports only about the proceedings of the case.

The court asked the media regarding this during the second day's hearing on the appeals of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman assassination case. Meanwhile, the courtroom has been shifted to room no 2 from room no 3 of the Appellate Division as the courtroom-3 was smaller than room-2. The first day's hearing on Monday was held at the third courtroom. During yesterday's hearing, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told the court that different lawyers were making different comments on the merit of the case, although the case is now sub-judice. He also submitted to the court that the court can issue some directions asking all to refrain from making such comments on the matter.

Barrister Abdullah-al Mamun, counsel for convicts Bazlul Huda and AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed, told the court that the lawyers of both the state and the defence should be careful in delivering statements regarding the case. Barrister Mamun told the court by pointing out that the Attorney General (AG) earlier made a comment that the case would be disposed of within this year. The AG office should be careful in delivering statements on the case. The court said that not only both the parties' lawyers but also all including the media should be careful on the matter in delivering statements and broadcasting reports.

In the second day's hearing, the appellants' counsel Barrister Abdullah-al Mamun read out from 691-773 pages out of 1,530 pages of the paper book of the High Court judgement during his submission before the newly formed five-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Justice Tafazzal Islam. The court fixed 9:30am today for further hearing on appeals of the five convicts, who challenged their death sentences in the Bangabandhu Murder Case.

During the hearing, the appellants' counsel Barrister Mamun submitted that Justice Ruhul Amin did not accept the confessional statements of the condemned prisoners Lt Col (sacked) Syed Farooq-ur Rahman, Lt Col (retd) Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Lt Col (retd) Muhiuddin Ahmed, as the statements were not taken through due legal procedure. Barrister Mamun said that following his submission, the court asked the lawyers to make just statements to the media on the case proceedings and refrain from making statements about the merit of the case.

Talking to this correspondent, Khan Saifur Rahman, counsel for condemned prisoner Syed Farooq-ur Rahman, said that the court would hear his petition when he submitted his argument before the court. He filed the petition on September 29 to the Chief Justice arguing that the state side should not be represented in the court by anybody during the appeal hearing as they had failed to submit the concise statement of the case within the stipulated time. Attorney General (AG) Mahbubey Alam told reporters that the court asked the both sides' lawyers to refrain from making comments regarding the merit of the case as it is now sub-judice.

"The court also asked the media to publish and broadcast reports on only the proceedings of the case and refrain from making such types of reports, in which the trial proceedings might be interrupted," the AG said. Replying to a query, he said the court would hear the petition filed by Khan Saifur Rahman during his submission before the court in favour of his client. Agencies add: At the beginning of yesterday's session, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam drew the attention of the court about some statements made by the concerned appellant's counsel to the press, saying such remarks touching the merit of the case is misleading the nation.

Replying to the allegation, Barrister Abdullah Al Mamun, one of counsels for the appellants, said the State counsel also at different times expressed some views including fixing of timeframe of ending of the present case to the press, which is also contrary to the legal norms. However, he regretted for his views to the press. The court, after hearing both, asked all concerned including the media not to publish and broadcast any views, which can touch the merit of the case.

Later, initiating yesterday's hearing, Barrister Mamun, counsel for convicts Bazlul Huda and AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed, started reading out the judgement of the High Court Division from the paper book which continued till closing of the court. After two years' inordinate delay, the hearing got down underway Monday with the reading out of excerpts from the bulky paper-book containing the whole case documents, including the lodging of the First Information Report (FIR) and all judgments.

The High Court finally affirmed the death sentences against twelve of the accused, acquitting three others, on April 30, 2001. In November 1998, the trial court, however, sentenced a total of 15 retired and dismissed army personnel for the August 15, 1975 carnage, subject to High Court confirmation. Earlier during first day's hearing Monday, Barrister Mamun read the case history from the paper-book before the appeal court. During the course of reading out, the Appellate Division bench reminded the counsel of limitations confining the deliberations to the five points on which leave was granted for filing appeals against the High Court judgment and the relevant part involving the appellants in order to "avert repetition".

The five points are: whether Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed along with most of his family members as a result of a mutiny, whether the evidences adduced by several witnesses are contradictory, whether delay in filing the First Information Report (FIR) is reasonable as held by the lower court, whether there is any conspiracy behind this murder, and whether disposal of the death references of six accused out of 15 by the 3rd judge in the High Court was correct and legal.