People of Bangladesh have painful memories of the atrocities carried out during the 1971 war by the Pakistan army. Some Bengali civilians did assist the Pakistani army to carry out some of the atrocities. Many people have called for those who were involved to face justice and quite rightly.
The War Crimes Tribunal was set up by the ruling party in 2010. Many were suspicious at the time - many feared the ruling party may use the tribunal to target opposition leaders.

Many it seems were right to be suspicious of the ruling party. It wasn’t too long before the ruling party started arresting leaders from the two main opposition parties. This has further fueled the political violence in Bangladesh.

The ruling Awami League party is very determined to destroy, weaken or even eliminate its opponents and what better way to do this, than to accuse your opponents of war crimes which is something very sensitive for the people of Bangladesh and touches the nerve of many Bangladeshi people. What they are doing is playing with people’s feelings. It’s gutter politics of the worse kind.

If further evidence was required to support many people’s view that the trials are politically motivated – the ten arrested and charged to date are all political leaders from the two main opposition parties.

The credibility of the trial is questioned by many in Bangladesh and international organizations including Human Rights Watch.

The tribunal puts unfair limits on the number of witnesses the defense is allowed. Tribunal refuses to order investigation into the abduction of defense witnesses.

The defense counsel face constant harassment and their offices are raiding regularly by the police.

Tribunal is quick to suspend members of the defense counsel if they raise any grievance.

The tribunal will not allow foreign legal representatives or international observers.

It is therefore clear the accused will never be allowed a fair trial. People have become suspicious with the tribunal judges and suspect collusion with government even before recent revelations.

It was no surprise when the War Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh rejected the petition for retrial on Thursday 3rd of January. The defense counsel for the accused, have raised concerns over the leaked information which clearly shows government colluding with tribunal judge to have the accused convicted. What was very damning from the leaked conversation between then Judge Nizamul Huq and government supporter Mr Ahmed Ziauddin was the drafting of verdict by Mr Ziauddin who has long campaigned for war crimes trials against Jamaat opposition leaders. These verdicts were being drafted before the trial had even concluded and discussions would relate around how the draft verdict could make the trial verdict look and sound credible.

It appears from the leaked communications, there is no consideration given to find out if any of the accused may be innocent. The aim it seems is to write up a verdict that will be convincing enough for the international community. In addition to this you also have the abduction of defense witness Mr Bali, who we know was originally a prosecution witness but then changed his mind and was prepared to speak in court on how he was being coerced by the prosecution.

The current ruling party must understand the dangers of playing politics with such a sensitive issue and this sort of politics can only further divide the country. It seems the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina is sowing the seeds of hatred which could destabilize the country for years to come. The opposition - who are victims of this Kangaroo court rightly feel persecuted. There is no doubt one day they will demand those who instigated this tribunal to carry summary execution of their leaders are brought to justice.

By Dean Jones