Video footages of the massacre carried out by the Pakistani occupation army on the night past March 25, 1971 and atrocities committed by them during Bangladesh’s war of independence were played in the International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Tuesday.
The video footages, including three reports aired by the NBC and CBS televisions in 1971 and two documentaries made by ATN-Bangla on the history of the war of independence and atrocities, were recorded as evidence against the detained Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami nayeb-e-amir Delwar Hossain Sayedee.
During the sixth day’s recording of his deposition, the investigation officer of the case, M Helal Uddin, narrated the historical background of the case and told the tribunal that he had collected the compact disks during the investigation.
He also told the tribunal that he had collected as evidence a copy of the telegraphic message Sheikh Mujibur Rahman sent to the East Pakistan Rifles on March 25, 1971 declaring the independence of the country, an audio CD of the declaration of the independence Ziaur Rahman made on radio and the video footage of the oath taking ceremony of the Mujibnagar government at Mujibnagar in Meherpur on April 17, 1971.
The tribunal of Justice Nizamul Huq, Justice Anwarul Haque and judge AKM Zahir Ahmed adjourned the proceedings until this morning, when the investigation officer would resume his deposition.
Sayedee is the first war crimes suspect to face formal trial.
The tribunal, also known as war crimes tribunal instituted for the trial of the 1971 war crimes, on April 4 charged the detained Bangladesh Nationalist Party lawmaker Salauddin Quader Chowdhury on 23 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, arson and robbery, and complicity in committing the crimes during the war of independence in 1971.
Salauddin, also BNP standing committee member, is the second man to face formal trial, which is scheduled for April 29 to begin with the opening statement of the prosecution and examination of prosecution witnesses.