Why Col Taher military trial not illegal: HC
August 23, 2010
The High Court (HC) on Monday asked the government to explain why the Martial Law regulations under which Lt Col Abu Taher was sentenced to death should not be declared illegal and unconstitutional.
The rule is returnable within three weeks.
The HC also directed the government to produce the records of the trail of Lt Col Taher along with 15 others who were sentenced to different terms of imprisonment in connection with a sedition case.
The court came up with the rule and order following a writ petition filed on August 22.
Taher’s wife Lutfa Taher, his brother Anwar Hossain; and Fatema Yousuf, the wife of Yousuf Ali Khan, who was sentenced to life term imprisonment in a secret trail on July 17, 1976; jointly filed the writ petition.
The sedition case was filed against Taher and 32 others and they were tried under Martial Law Regulations No-16 of 1976 at a secret trial on July 17, 1976 when Ziaur Rahman was the Chief Martial Law Administrator of the country.
The martial court convicted 16 people including Lt Col Taher, also a sector commander during the Liberation War in 1971.
Later, the death sentence of Lt Col Taher was executed on July 21, 1976.
According to the petition the then administration neither disclosed anything about the trial, charges and execution, nor informed anything to the family members of the victims.
The petitioners claimed that there is no provision for secret trial in the constitution. As per the constitution all trials have to be done in the open court so that fundamental rights of the accused can be upheld.
There was no provision in the Martial Law Regulation No-16 of 1976 for filing any appeal against the death sentence, which is unconstitutional.
They also said the trial of Taher and 16 others, their conviction and execution were illegal and unconstitutional as the Supreme Court (SC) has declared the Martial Law regulation unconstitutional and illegal recently.
The petitioners prayed to the court to direct the government authorities to produce the record of the case and it’s trial so that they can know the reason behind such trial.
Source: thedailystar.net
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