ICT gets new chief prosecutor, 4 prosecutors

Supreme Court lawyer Md Tajul Islam has been appointed as chief prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal, which will now deal with alleged crimes against humanity committed during the quota movement. 
Four other lawyers have been appointed as prosecutors. They are Mizanul Islam, Gazi Monawar Hossain Tamim, BM Sultan Mahmud and Abdullah Al Noman, according to a gazette notification issued on September 5.
Tajul Islam will enjoy the status of the attorney general, it says.
The appointments coincide with the surge in cases filed with the ICT against Sheikh Hasina, her former cabinet and party colleagues, police, journalists, and other professionals after the fall of Hasina in a student-led mass uprising on August 5.
The cases were filed over alleged genocide and crimes against humanity during the July-August protests until Hasina fled to India.
Contacted, Tajul said the tasks of his office are very challenging as many powerful politicians including former prime minister Sheikh Hasina are accused in some cases filed with the ICT.
“Information, documents and evidence against them will have to be collected from across the country and those will have to compiled, examined and placed properly before the tribunal,” he told The Daily Star last night.
Tajul was a defence lawyer in the war crimes trial against some leaders of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. Until late last month, he was a joint convener of Amar Bangladesh Party (AB Party).
Mizanul Islam was a counsel for convicted Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee. Gazi Tamim was also a defence lawyer for Jamaat leaders during the war crimes trial, and filed the first complaint in the tribunal against Sheikh Hasina on behalf of the father of a victim who died during the quota movement.
Talking to this newspaper, Tajul Islam said the ICT and its investigation team will have to be reconstituted by appointing new judges and investigators as previous judges, prosecution team and investigation agency appointed by the Awami League government have stepped down after the formation of the interim government.
So it will take some time before the tribunal starts operations, he added.