The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Tuesday found David Bergman, a British human rights activist and journalist based in Dhaka, found guilty of the contempt of court for disrespecting court by making remarks about the country's War of Liberation in 1971 in his blog post.

The three-member ICT 2, led by Justice Obaidul Hasan, awarded Bergman simple imprisonment till the rising of the court and fined him TK 5,000, in default, he will have to serve a seven-day imprisonment.

The tribunal asked him to pay the fine within next seven working days through Treasury bill.

David Bergman, the editor (special reports) of the daily New Age, was present before the court during the pronouncement of the verdict.

On February 18, Supreme Court lawyer Abul Kalam Azad filed the contempt petition against Bergman, the son in-law of  noted jurist and constitution expert Dr Kamal Hossain, for his comments related to war crimes trials and questioned about the actual figure of deaths during the Liberation War in his blog post.

In a post in November 2011, Bergman questioned whether there was evidence that supported the official figure and referred to other studies suggesting the real figure may be much lower.

LY