Journalist and editor of Amar Desh, Mahmudur Rahman, has alleged that Bangladesh’s previous International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) under the then Awami League government was a “mockery of justice,” claiming verdicts were predetermined and trials orchestrated for political ends.
Testifying Monday as the 46th witness in the ongoing case against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Mahmudur Rahman recounted instances from the 2012 “Skype scandal” involving then-ICT Chairman Justice Nizamul Haque.
He claimed the tribunal chief had coordinated trial proceedings with prosecutors and external advisers, including expatriate Bangladeshi lawyer Ziauddin Ahmed, through Skype calls and emails.
Citing an example, Rahman said Justice Nizamul instructed prosecutor Zead Al-Malum to occasionally raise objections during hearings so the judge could overrule them, creating an illusion of impartiality. “You will stand up and object, then I will make you sit down. People will think we are not close,” Rahman quoted the tribunal chief as telling Malum.
He further alleged that Justice Nizamul sought promotions by delivering politically motivated verdicts, as encouraged by then-senior judicial figures. Despite resigning after the Skype scandal was exposed by Amar Desh and the Economist, Nizamul Haque reportedly faced no punishment and was instead elevated to the High Court, later promoted to the Appellate Division, and eventually appointed Chairman of the Press Council.
Rahman said this demonstrated how, under what he described as a “fascist government,” judicial misconduct was rewarded rather than punished. He also painted a broader picture of what he termed authoritarian misrule during the Awami League era.
The witness testimony, recorded before a three-member panel of International Crimes Tribunal-1 led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mojumdar, began at 11:20 am and continued until 1:30 pm, resuming after a one-hour recess.
Meanwhile, Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam told reporters that the tribunal expects to conclude proceedings in the case against Sheikh Hasina, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and another accused after hearing testimony from a few more witnesses in connection with crimes against humanity committed in July–August in 2024.
