Staff Correspondent:

The trial of most of those who ordered the genocide in the July-August anti-dictatorship uprising will be completed by December, said Mohammad Tajul Islam, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal.

He said this at a discussion meeting organized at the Judicial Administration Training Institute in the capital on Tuesday. The program of discussion and documentary screening of the July genocide trial was organized by the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.

The Chief Prosecutor said, “Just as we have to address the emotions of the families of the martyrs, the relatives of the martyrs, the victims, their demands and thirst for justice, similarly we have to maintain the law, international standards, and the rights of the accused. We have taken the reasonable time needed to do that, we are taking time, but that does not mean that this trial will take years. As the trial process is progressing, we can assure you that a large part of the trial of the top commanders will be completed by December.”

He said, “Those of you who are outside the judiciary, who are not technical persons regarding the trial, may not understand many things about the trial. They say a lot from an emotional point of view. We understand, it is their emotional point of view. For example, it is said that a year has passed, why has there been no trial, no verdict? What do you do? This is trial and if it is a trial of a case like genocide or Crimes against Humanity, it can never be done so quickly.”

He also said, “What is possible in the case of the mobile court, not in the trial of the International Crimes Tribunal. It has a specific procedure and we have to follow it. We took charge in September. It took time until November for everything to be ready in the court. Then, in just a few months, less than six months, the investigation agency of the International Crimes Tribunal was able to submit the first investigation report.”

Tajul Islam said,” We received our first investigation report in less than six months. Right now, the trial of four cases is underway. Many of you say, ‘we don’t see the trial visible.’ But, the trial is visible. The open trial of four cases is underway. We have broadcast some parts live. On August 3, the first witness will be in Sheikh Hasina’s case, against Sheikh Hasina.”