DHAKA: The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 fixed April 24 for hearing the explanation of London-based ‘The Economist’ for interfering in the ongoing ICT trial and violating the privacy of a judge.ICT-1 led by ATM Fazle Kabir fixed the date Monday after defense counsel Barrister Mustafizur Rahman Khan submitted a written explanation of Economist before the tribunal.
On December 6 in 2012, ICT-1 issued a notice on the South Asia bureau chief and the chief editor of ‘The Economist’ to explain within three weeks why actions would not be taken against them for interfering in the ongoing war crimes trial and violating the privacy of a judge.
The then ICT-1 Chairman Justice Nizamul Huq said he had regular conversations with international war crimes specialist Ahmed Ziauddin, who resides in Brussels, on the war crimes trial over e-mail and Skype.
Recently, he found out that his and Ziauddin’s email and Skype account got hacked. Later Nizamul Huq received a phone call from a person who claimed himself as a journalist from ‘The Economist’.
The journalist said that they have all the records of the conversation between Nizamul Huq and Ziauddin.
The caller also wanted to know about the current position of the trial in ICT, Nizamul Huq added.
ICT-1 passed the order saying no one can ask a presiding judge about an ongoing trial in his court and it is a serious offence.
The tribunal also directed the Economist not to publish the record in any circumstances.
In its order, the tribunal said a copy of this order should be served to inspector general of police for probe into the matter.
On December 11 of last year, Justice Nizamul Haque resigned as the chairman of the ICT-1 soon after published a news item over his Skype conversation.
(Source: banglanews24.com)
