Counsels of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee yesterday said eighth prosecution witness in the case filed against the Jamaat leader in connection with war crimes gave false statements out of “political vengeance”. On Sunday, Mostafa Hawlader, one among 68 prosecution witnesses in the case, testified against Sayedee before the International Crimes Tribunal formed to try people who committed crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971. During the court proceedings yesterday, defence counsel Manjur Ahmed Ansari told Mostafa, “You support Awami League and that is why you gave false statements in a false case on advice of the ruling party lawmaker from your area [Pirojpur] to publicly humiliate Sayedee.” “It is not true,” was the response of 56-year-old Mostafa. The three-member tribunal led by its Chairman Justice Md Nizamul Huq yesterday finished recording the cross-examination of Mostafa. Sayedee was taken to the dock as the court started its proceedings at 10:44am. He was seen reading from a small book most of the time and allowed to lie down as he was complaining of back pain. His counsel Mizanul Islam began the cross-examination by asking the witness whether he knew a number of people from Parerhaat area of Pirojpur. Mizanul also asked Mostafa if he knew collaborators Delawar Sikder (son of Rasul Sikder) and Delawar Hossain Mallick. In reply, Mostafa said he did not know any of them but knew Delawar Hossain Sayedee. The witness, in his testimony, had said Sayedee was known as Delawar Hossain Sikder in the time of the Liberation War. Another defence counsel Kafil Uddin Chowdhury then took over and told the witness that there had been a collaborator by the name Delawar Sikder who had lived in the house of Chila Sikder near Sohrawardi College in Pirojpur town. Kafil added that the collaborator had been killed after the independence by a freedom fighter, Abed Ali Hossain, and the witness was trying to implicate Sayedee in crimes committed by Delawar Sikder. Mostafa refuted the allegation. Counsel Monjur Ahmed Ansari then said the allegations Mostafa brought against Sayedee in his deposition were false. He claimed Sayedee was not in Parerhaat or Pirojpur from March to mid July of 1971 whereas the witness accused the Jamaat leader of committing crimes against humanity in the area during the period. Mostafa denied this as well. The counsel concluded the cross-examination by suggesting that Moftafa was jobless in 1971, and his [Mostafa] claim that he had been a snacks vendor was false. Mostafa rejected the suggestion. Earlier the day’s proceedings progressed with an exchange of arguments between the prosecutors and the defence counsels. The prosecutors kept objecting to the counsels’ line of questioning while the defence lawyers complained about the constant intervention. The tribunal had to intervene many times to keep the proceedings going. At one stage, the tribunal told a prosecutor, “Today we find you very excited. Please keep quiet.” After the cross-examination of the eighth witness, the tribunal adjourned at 3:10pm, around an hour before the scheduled time, as the defence lawyers told the court they were too tired to continue. Ninth prosecution witness Altaf Ali Hawlader will give his deposition today.
