The government has put former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Ghulam Azam under watch following the arrest of top Jamaat leaders and start of the war crimes trial formalities.

The political guru of the religion-based party, who allegedly led the collaborators of Pakistan army during Bangladesh’s war for independence in 1971, told bdnews24.com on Tuesday that he has been barred from travelling the United Kingdom.

A government policymaker who did not want to be named said: “Ghulam Azam is under intelligence surveillance.”

Azam, leading a secluded life since leaving the top office of the Jamaat, said the government confiscated his passport on April 27 this year.

“Every year I go to the Britain to see my family. But I have not been allowed to leave the country since 2008,” he told NewshoursBD.com correspondent who managed a brief interview on Tuesday after two days of continuous efforts when Azam was on the way to a mosque near his Moghbazar residence.

Azam said his wife had secured UK visa but he did not. “I appealed to a British court against the visa refusal and the court ruled in my favour. But the Bangladesh government is not letting me go abroad.”

Asked whether the bar on his leaving the country is because of war crime allegations, he said he had no idea.

“I don’t know what war crimes are,” he told NewshoursBD.com when it was suggested that the bar on his movement might have been because the government was about to initiate a war crimes trial.

The former Jamaat chief refused to answer any further questions.

Earlier, his grandson Nabil Al-Amin told NewshoursBD.com on the phone from the UK that their family had decided not to talk to the media.

“A few days back I had talked to a newspaper. They published false information. So I will not answer any of your questions.”

Jamaat assistant secretary general Mujibur Rahman said Azam does not see journalists.

Last week, the government arrested Jamaat’s incumbent chief Matiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and central executive committee member Delwar Hossain Sayedee for defying a court order over hurting religious sentiment.

Plainclothesmen on Monday raided the law chamber of Jamaat assistant secretary general Abdur Razzaq who was not around at that time.

The investigation into war crime charges is drawing to an end and charges are set to be pressed at the War Crimes Tribunal which was set up in March this year under International Crimes (Tribunal) Act 1973 to try the war crimes suspects.

Ghulam Azam is the main suspect. He allegedly collaborated with the Pakistan army in the genocide, looting, arson, rape and other crimes against humanity.

He opposed the independence struggle in 1971 and allegedly led the formation of Peace Committees, Razakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams militias to thwart the emergence of Bangladesh.

Azam is also accused of having lobbied against the recognition of new-born Bangladesh by foreign countries.

He was condemned to death at a symbolic public trial by eminent citizens of the country.

Before the public court, the war crime allegations against him were detailed by Borhanuddin Khan Jahangir and his pro-Pakistan stance after 1971 was presented by professor Anisuzzaman.

Anisuzzaman said: “After the liberation of Bangladesh, Azam, staying in Pakistan, created an organisation named Purbo Pakistan Punoruddhar Committee (East Pakistan Reclamation Committee) along with anti-Bangladesh activists like Mahmud Ali and Khwaja Khaeruddin.”

“Ghulam Azam tried to strengthen the international movement to re-establish East Pakistan. Accordingly, he kept claiming himself as the ameer (chief) of East Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami many years after the elimination of East Pakistan.”

In 1973, he urged everybody to participate in the movement of combining Bangladesh with Pakistan in the annual conference of Muslim Students’ Association of America and Canada held at Michigan State University, Anisuzzaman added.

He arranged a meeting of the committee with Pakistanis like Mahmud Ali in 1974.

Anisuzzaman said Azam lectured against Bangladesh again in 1977, in the international conference of Islamic Federation of Students’ Organisations held at Istanbul.

“Insiders” stole nine gold medals and 17 antique silver coins from four showcases of gallery 21 of the National Museum and replaced those with bronze and steel replicas.
However, the authorities are not yet sure exactly how many objects were stolen from their store over the years, as they did not maintain any proper inventory since 1982.
The authorities say the thieves must be insiders as no burglary was reported since 1991 after a gold-silver made lion-faced arm of the throne of Dighapatia king was stolen.
“So, we know for sure some of the museum officials are responsible for this. Now we are investigating exactly how many pieces were stolen and who did it,” said Promod Mankin, state minister for cultural affair ministry, who visited the museum yesterday.
The museum authorities say they have acute shortage of workforce and still could not start the inventory as all the responsible people are on leave preparatory to retirement (LPR) or remain suspended on charge of neglect of duty.
“There are at least 55,000 objects in the store, more than double of what we display. So making a proper checklist is a time consuming matter. We could not start the work yet,” said Prokash Chandra Das, director general (DG) of Bangladesh National Museum.
“It will take another six months to complete the inventory. May be then we will come to know exactly what and how many are missing,” he added.
Insiders say at least one coin from the Tripura dynasty was stolen before 2005 and another in last five years when Dr Rezaul Karim [went on LPR in June 2009] was the keeper.
In the case statement, Secretary to the museum Alam Ara Begum mentioned the museum authorities made a documentary in 2005, according to which a rare coin of the Tripura dynasty was missing from the showcase No. 3,461.
But now the investigation team of the museum found two coins are missing.
Some medals including the Queen Victoria Cross of Nawab Abdul Latif and an Ekushey medal are seen in that documentary. Those medals are seen in a video made in 2005 in the No. 3,463 and 3,464 showcases.
But none of those are available now, the case statement reads.
Earlier, when Vishnu and Bust of Vishnu, two valuable statues from the Gupta era, were stolen from airport on way to Paris on December 21, 2007 and police recovered some clay pieces, experts from the museum certified those as genuine after just manual checks.
Since its inception in 1913 with only 17 objects, the museum has been maintaining its registry of the treasures manually even today.
Over 80 percent of around 87,000 objects are remaining in the store for years, insiders say, adding, the museum authorities have not displayed those.
Even after 10 months of taking charge from former keeper Rezaul Karim, Begum Nur E Nasrin, deputy keeper of History and Classical Arts, and Assistant Keeper AKM Saifuzzaman did not check those objects.
Before going on retirement in June 2009, Dr Rezaul Karim, eminent old coin expert and also the former keeper of History of Classical Art department, was in charge of those.
Asked about security concerns, all the high officials said the storeroom is very safe as nobody is allowed to get in.
Only the keeper keeps the keys but has to take officials from the security wing when he or she opens the store.
All the details of the objects are written in the registry and all objects have an accession number. So the museum officials have to read out the registry book and check the accession number of the objects.
But there is no arrangements yet to identify whether the object is a fake or real, museum official say.
The authorities say the officials are supposed to take photographs and describe in the registry book the object with photos. But the officials did not do it for all objects, investigation finds.
“So there was serious neglect in preservation and registration system of the museum,” said the newly appointed DG.
Although treasures of Bangladesh National Museum are increasing every year, the authorities have yet to introduce modern security system and technologies to identify originality of the collection.
Experts say some of the items of the museum are really unique and hard to find a second copy.
But over the years, the government showed utter negligence to those and even didn’t make any publication in this regard.
According to museum sources, of the four wings, History and Classical Art had 67,164 items, Ethnography and Classical Decorative Art 11,740 items, Contemporary Art and World Civilisation 4,958 items and Natural History had 2,319 items in 2007.
Now the authorities are thinking about digital object ID following theft from a gallery display showcase.

Drug use is moving away from cocaine and opiates and towards synthetic drugs such as amphetamines, the UN says. In its World Drug Report it says it expects that soon there will be more people using synthetic drugs than opium, heroin and cocaine together.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) also found that cocaine consumption has fallen significantly in the US in recent years.
But the number of cocaine users in Europe has doubled, it says.
The shift in demand has led to South American drug cartels establishing new routes through West Africa.
Trafficking is causing instability in many developing countries, particularly in Africa and Latin America, the report says.
“People snorting coke in Europe are killing the pristine forests of the Andean countries and corrupting governments in West Africa”, UNODC director Antonio Maria Costa said.
Shifting consumption
Developing countries are also seeing a rise in drug use, with heroin consumption up in eastern Africa and cocaine use up in West Africa and South America.
Demand for the synthetic drug ecstasy is falling or levelling off in Europe.
But the drug is becoming more popular in Asia.
“We will not solve the world drug problem by shifting consumption form the developed to the developing world”, Mr Costa said.
In Europe the number of cocaine users has doubled to around four million in the last decade. The market is now worth $34bn, almost as much as that in North America.
However, world cocaine production has fallen by 12% to 18% in the past three years and the North American market is shrinking, thanks in part to police crackdowns in Colombia, a producer country, and transit country Mexico.
UNODC also found a downward trend in global heroin consumption.
It expects opium production to fall steeply in 2010 because of a blight that could wipe out a quarter of Afghanistan’s poppy crop.

At a victory-day rally at the central Shahid Minar, Ashraful said the countrymen entrusted Awami League with the mandate to try war criminals and the government completed its preparation for the trial.

The rally was part of the Awami League’s month-long programme to celebrate the country’s independence.

The minister said the democracy of the country would be strengthened and the politics of killing would end forever if the war criminals brought into justice.

He said some people were still plotting to turn Bangladesh into a part of Pakistan by bringing nationalism ahead of the spirit of the liberation war.

The record and judgment of the case have already been sent to the trial court, the law minister told newsmen at his secretariat office.

The date of issuing death warrants against the killers was fixed at a meeting with law minister, attorney general and some state counsels for the Bangabandhu murder case at the law ministry in the day.

The jail authorities will take steps to execute the five convicts between 21 and 28 days, after receiving the death warrants, he added.

The five convicts are Lt Col Syed Farooq Rahman, Lt Col Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Maj Bazlul Huda, Maj (Lancer) AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed and Lt Col (Artillery) Mohiuddin Ahmed.

He said the government fixed the date as legal complexities arose on who should issue the death warrants on 23 December.

Shafique told reporters that the five convicts could file review petitions with the Supreme Court against their convictions by January 19.

Replying to a question, the law minister said the government decision has already been conveyed to the District and Session Judge’s Court that will issue the death warrants.

Law Minister Shafique Ahmed said this to reporters on Sunday at the Judicial Administration Training Institute after visiting the Old High Court building.

He said the government had decided to set up tribunal for the trial at the building. Construction of the courtrooms and other offices will be completed by January.

After the courtrooms and relevant offices are set up, the government will appoint prosecutors and investigators for the trial.

The minister said the investigation agency and the prosecution team would start work by March next year.

Replying to a question, he said nobody would be harassed in the name of trial for political reason.

Shafique Ahmed also said that no country of the world was against the war trial.

State Minister for Housing and Public Works Abdul Mannan Khan was with the law minister during the visit.

News Source: Daily star

The trial began on November 24 and was adjourned on November 25 giving the accused about 27 days to pick up counsels for self-defence either from BDR officials or lawyers.

The hearing will resume at 3:00pm at the makeshift special court-4, which is likely to frame charges against the nine accused, said sources.

BDR Director General Maj Gen Md Moinul Islam heads the three-member court. The other members are Lt Col Md Abdur Rouf and Maj Golam Mostafa Al-Mamun.

Deputy Attorney General Md Sohrawardy along with senior public prosecutors Mosharraf Hossain and Manzurul Alam will be present at the court on behalf of the attorney general.

The trial of the suspected BDR mutineers is being held under the Bangladesh Rifles Order 1972.

The nine accused BDR jawans of 12 Rifle Battalion of Longudu are now in Rangamati jail. They are havildars Sibbir Ahmed, Sohrab Hossain, and Md Shamsul Haque, signalman Abdur Rahman, sepoys Md Abul Kalam Azad, Md Sakhawat Hossain, Md Rasel Kabir, Md Zahir Uddin and Md Sarwar Kamal.

Three cases were filed with Barkal, Baghaichhari and Longudu police stations against 39 BDR jawans on charge of revolt at three of the five battalions in Rangamati following the February 25-26 mutiny at the Pilkhana BDR headquarters.

Introduced in 2001 in consultation with the Supreme Court, the policy says the law secretary and 75 percent of the first class officers at the ministry’s law and justice wing shall be appointed from among the judicial officials.

But it was breached when Kazi Habibul Awal was made acting secretary to the ministry in June 2007 and made permanent in the position in June next year.

The High Court in February 2008 declared the appointment illegal as it noted Awal was not from the judicial cadre, but from the legislative drafting wing of the ministry.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the ruling.

Earlier in 2007, the HC rejected a challenge against the provision of keeping 75 percent posts of the first class officers including the secretary reserved for judicial officials.

That HC decision too was upheld by the apex court.

The HC in its judgment observed that traditionally the judicial officials have held most of the law ministry posts including that of the secretary. And to give this practice a formal recognition a recruitment policy was adopted in 2001.

Citing the government’s rules of business, the HC said since the functions of the law ministry are specialised, judicial officials are needed to discharge those properly in the public interest.

Bangladesh Judicial Service (posting, promotion, grant of leave and discipline) Rules 2007 too say judicial officials can be appointed to the reserved posts in the law ministry in consultation with the SC.

After Awal was appointed law secretary, judicial cadres in the ministry grew cornered.

That judicial officials hold only two of the six joint secretary posts shows their worries are not unfounded, said ministry sources.

Shahidul Haque, an official from the drafting wing, was promoted to additional secretary last year.

On the other hand, the decision taken seven months ago to promote Anwarul Haque, a judicial official, to additional secretary has yet to be implemented, added the sources.

“Currently, only 40 percent of the first class officers are from the judicial cadre,” a senior law ministry official told The Daily Star yesterday, wishing anonymity.

A sense of uncertainty grew among the judicial officials in last three years as more and more admin cadres were appointed and promoted as first class officers at the justice wing, said members of the judicial service association.

Against this backdrop, leaders of the judicial service association, comprised of around 1,400 judicial officials, are trying to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to apprise her of the legal provisions on recruitment at the law ministry.

The association leaders believe the prime minister was not rightly briefed about the legal provision. And that might be the reason she told parliament in March that the secretary’s post is not reserved for judicial officials.

Following the SC verdict on Thursday, Law Minister Shafique Ahmed said the government would take necessary steps on receipt of a certified copy of the verdict.

Md Imran, a resident of Fatikchhari upazila, filed the case with the court of Judge Akter Hossain, the daily Prothom Alo reports.

In the case details, Imran alleged that Sahara was shown on Channel-i news on December 18 saying, “War criminal SQ Chowdhury will be brought to justice and punished”.

The comment has tarnished the image of SQ Chowdhury, he said.

Meanwhile, another defamation suit was filed against Awami League lawmaker Shahida Tarek with the same court on Thursday.

As per plaintiff Farhad Hossain, Shahida during a meeting in Fatikchhari upazila on December 19 said, “Everyone have to be united so that collaborator Salauddin could not stand in front of the power with the spirit of the Liberation War

“It’s not possible to bring about a meaningful change unless the nexus of politics-corruption is broken,” the ACC chairman said at a seminar organised by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) at the Brac Centre Inn in city.

He said it was vital to think of public funding for political activities including electioneering and to remove dependence on businessmen to free politics from corruption.

Ghulam Rahman found it very expensive doing politics in Bangladesh.

TIB trustee member Prof Muzaffer Ahmad said, “Defence purchase too should be brought under the purview of ACC drive since it is not free from corruption.”

Corruption is all pervading the society, he said adding that isolated anti-graft drives will not yield sustainable results.

He demanded that the ACC should be made a constitutional body through an amendment.

TIB organised the seminar marking the International Anti-Corruption Day 2009 presided by M Hafizuddin Khan, chairman of TIB board of trustees.