Pro-Jamaat prosecutors block journalist’s access to International Crimes Tribunal

Staff Correspondent

Journalists were barred from entering a hearing at the International Crimes Tribunal-1. Two prosecutors, Gazi Monowar Hossain Tamim and Sheikh Mahdi, both of whom are accused of being affiliated with Jamaat, barred the journalists from entering.

The restrictions were imposed during a hearing in a case related to the disappearance on Monday (February 2).

Seventeen people are accused in this case of crimes against humanity committed in the case of abduction and detention in the Task Force for Interrogation Cell (TFI Cell).

Just before the court recessed, prosecutors asked for permission to record a witness’s testimony in camera for security reasons.

According to the defense lawyers, Judge Mohitul Haque Anam Chowdhury later informed both parties that the tribunal chairman had rejected the request and the trial would continue in open court.

Even then, journalists were not allowed to enter the courtroom. Security personnel stopped the journalists as they entered the court, saying they were doing so on the orders of the prosecution.

When asked about this, a court employee said that according to the prosecution’s decision, no one will be allowed to enter the courtroom. When asked whether journalists are banned from entering, Prosecutor Sheikh Mahdi told the media, “Yes.”

When asked how entry could be banned if the court is not operating in camera, he said it was for the safety and security of the witness.

Mahdi then asked prosecutor Gazi Monowar Hossain Tamim whether journalists would be allowed to enter the courtroom. Monowar Hossain said that journalists’ entry had been restricted.

After the hearing, Monowar Hossain was asked again why journalists were not allowed to enter the courtroom even though in-camera proceedings were not being conducted in the court. In response, he said that this decision was taken for security reasons. Members of the investigation agencies, including the NSI and DGFI, were also asked to leave the courtroom.

When asked if the prosecution could make such a decision, he said, “Initially, I thought the application for an in-camera trial had been approved.”

He further said, “When I left the court this morning, the chairman told the court that the application had been approved. The witness will testify in camera in the second half.”

Defense lawyer Tabarak Hossain Bhuiyan said the tribunal chairman did not approve the application for in-camera proceedings.