Muhammad Yunus-led interim govt of Bangladesh on Saturday appointed Supreme Court lawyer Md Tajul Islam as the chief prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal. Tajul Islam is the joint convener of Amar Bangladesh Party, a political offshoot of Jamaat-e-Islami, and is also known for being the top lawyer of Jamaat-e-Islami leaders before the International Criminal Tribunal.
The interim govt reconstituted the prosecution team of the tribunal and named four other prosecutors. According to a notification issued by the govt, Advocate Tajul Islam will enjoy the status like that of the attorney general of the state. Earlier all 13 prosecutors of the tribunal had resigned after the fall of Hasina govt.
The International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh) is a domestic war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh set up in 2009 to investigate and prosecute suspects for the genocide committed in 1971 by the Pakistan Army and their local collaborators including Razakars, Al-Badr and Al-Shams during the Bangladesh Liberation War. However, its role has been expanded to detention, prosecution and punishment of persons responsible for committing genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other crimes under international law.
The other newly appointed ICT prosecutors include Md Mizanul Islam, Gazi Monawar Hussain Tamim, BM Sultan Mahmud, and Abdullah Al Noman. Tamim represents the plaintiffs in the ICT cases against Hasina and her aides. Mizanul Islam has been designated as an additional attorney general. He had also defended top Jamaat leaders in their cases.
The appointment of Tajul Islam as the chief prosecutor of the tribunal has raised eyebrows, as he is a politician aligned with Jamaat and not a neutral lawyer. As the Tribunal is expected to try former PM Sheikh Hasina and other Awami League leaders, the appointment of a pro-Jamaat lawyer gives a clear indication of what will happen in those cases.
Tajul Islam has resigned from the position of joint convener of Amar Bangladesh Party (AB Party), a party formed by reformist leaders and activists of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami in 2023.
Journalist David Bergman who has a particular interest in Bangladesh called it a terrible decision by the new interim government, saying that it suggests that the govt has learnt absolutely nothing from previous experience of the ICT and is not interested in fair trials.
He said that first the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act 1973 needs considerable amendment in order to ensure a fair trial, and appointment of prosecutors before the amendment is wrong. He said that the presence of a chief prosecutor, who by the very nature of his position is primarily concerned about convictions, will be a huge drag in preventing the necessary amendments being made.
Bergman added that the appointment of Tajul Islam in particular to this position is a really bad one, as ICT needs an independent-minded lawyer respected by all wings of the legal community, and able to be perceived by the public as fair and independent.
The appointment of Tajul Islam as chief prosecutor to the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is a terrible decision by the new interim government for a number of reasons, suggesting that it has learnt absolutely nothing from previous experience of the ICT and is not interested… https://t.co/iQvlyDQzGF
— David Bergman (@TheDavidBergman) September 8, 2024
He said that Tajul Islam is not perceived as a fair and independent, as he has been closely aligned to the islamist Jamaat-e-Islami for many years and then he has been the co-convenor of its off-shoot the Amar Bangladesh party. David Bergman noted that Tajul made his name as a senior member of the Jamaat-e-Islami defence team which represented Jamaat-e-Islami leaders who were convicted and sentenced to death “in extraordinary unfair trials at the ICT itself.” He added that those trials were organised and approved by some of the very politicians who now are likely to prosecuted before the very same Tribunal.
The journalist said that the appointment feels like part of a revenge fantasy, rather than a decision by a government seeking to hold fair trials.
The appointments to the ICT came at that time when cases and allegations against Sheikh Hasina and other Awami leaders are rising day by day. Notably, just after the appointment to the post, Taijul Islam said that Sheikh Hasina will be brought back to the country and tried before the tribunal. He said that Hasina will be tried over alleged crimes against humanity and genocide during the recent anti-discrimination student movement in the country.
“As she (Sheikh Hasina) is considered to be the main perpetrator and she has fled the country. We would initiate the legal process to bring her back. The extradition treaty between Bangladesh and India was signed in 2013, during the tenure of her government. As we guess that she would be the main accused and she was made accused in most of the cases filed over the genocide that took place in Bangladesh recently, we would try to make her stand trial after bringing her back to the country,” Advocate Tajul Islam said in his initial reaction after becoming ICT chief prosecutor.
