The International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Wednesday again deferred to
November 28 the hearing of the pretrial contempt petition against
Channel 24 , a private satellite TV network, on its impugned live
talk-show, ‘Muktabaak’, calling in question the transparency of the
war crimes trial process. As the tribunal resumed, Tarikul Islam,
the counsel for ‘Muktabaak’ participant Mahfuzullah who did not appear
in compliance with its order, moved a petition seeking time to reply
to the tribunal notice. M Asaduzzaman, the counsel for the five
Channel 24 officials, submitted identical written reply to the
tribunal notice. The Channel 24 officials denied the contempt
allegation, terming the remarks made by the talk-show participants as
their personal opinion which has no connection with the editorial
policy of the Channel 24. Therefore, the Channel 24 officials had no
responsibility or involvement in any manner whatsoever in the personal
opinion of the talk–show participants, said the opposite parties.
The channel 24, however, expressed its sincere regret if the programme
deems prejudicial or contemptuous to the tribunal. Meanwhile, the
tribunal inquired about the presence of another opposite party,
‘Muktabaak’ participant Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury of Gonoshasthaya who
want to contest the case himself without engaging any lawyer. In
response, Dr Zafrullah stood up and prayed for commencing the hearing
on the matter since the alleged contempt is considered as personal
liability. The tribunal asked him to keep on standing until further
orders and Dr Zafrullah followed the order without hesitation. The
tribunal, referring to the practiced legal procedure, said the matter
will be heard analogously. Considering the submissions by the
opposite parties, the tribunal re-fixed the hearing for November 28.
On September 26, responding to a prosecution plea, the tribunal asked
the management of Channel 24 to show cause why contempt proceedings
should not be initiated for airing the ‘scandalous’ live talk-show,
titled ‘Muktabaak’, at 11 pm on September 18 over the trial of the
1971 war crimes accused Salauddin Quader Chowdhury MP of BNP. The
tribunal order had said: “On perusal of the application for contempt
and witnessing the impugned ‘Muktabaak’ talk-show through DVD, we find
that Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury and Mahfuzullah without knowing the facts
have deliberately criticized the court proceedings.” It had further
said: “Upon scrutiny of the criticisms made by the two participants on
subjudice matter, we’re of the opinion that they’ve made false and
fabricated statements on subjudice matter and there are reasonable
grounds to draw up contempt proceedings as they, without knowing the
factual aspects of the case, most unethically tried to give a message
to the people that accused Salauddin Quader has been deprived of
proving his defence case.” – UNB
