On the 13th July, 2010 Abdul Quader Mollah was arrested from the Supreme Court premise without any charge or warrant against him. He remained imprisoned until December 2011, for nearly one and half year, without any specific charges against him. In context of the imprisonment without charges, The UN Working Group of Arbitrary Detention and other national and international organizations requested Bangladesh government to release him.

His name was later included in two police cases to legitimise his arrest. To include him in the trial process of the domestic International Crimes Tribunal, he was shown arrested in a war crimes trial case on July 22, 2010, again without any charges. In this manner he was imprisoned illegally till December 18, 2011, the date on which the prosecution submitted formal charges against him before Tribunal-1, which took the charges into cognizance on December 28, 2011. On April 16, 2012, after the Skype scandal in which the Chairman of the Tribunal was forced to resign, the case was transferred to Tribunal-2.

The 6 charges and judgment against Abdul Quader Mollah

Charge One

The first charge brought against Abdul Quader Mollah is killing Pallab, a freedom fighter. Second witness of the Prosecution Shahidul Haque Mama gave statement at the tribunal. In the statement, Shahidul Haque Mama claimed he heard “a group of people seized Pallab from Thataribazar in the capital and brought him to Mirpur. Later Quader Mollah ordered to kill Pallab”. Shahidul Haque Mama was asked from whom he had heard that incident, but he could not reply. His reply was ‘ I have heard it from the stream of people of Mirpur’.

Shahidul Haque Mama, also the prosecution witness of the charge 2 against Abdul Quader Mollah, described the incidents of the charges 1 and 2 in Bangladesh Television (BTV) broadcast documentary ‘Ronangoner Dinguli’ ( Days of the Battlefield). In his description in the government run television, Shahidul Haque Mama didn’t mention name of Abdul Quader Mollah.

Another witness of the prosecution Syed Abdul Qaium said at the tribunal that he has heard that Pallab was killed as Quader Mollah ordered to kill Pallab. But the prosecution witness couldn’t say a single name from whom he has heard that Quader Mollah either ordered to kill Pallab or in charge of commissioning the killing.

Most amazingly, the prosecution witness and only witness of Pallab’s killing; daughter-in-law of Pallab, Shahera gave statement in favor of Quader Mollah. She said the family members have never heard of Quader Mollah in line with Pallab’s killing. However, the investigation officer didn’t take witness of the in-law of Pallab but enlisted name of Abdul Quader Mollah as the accused of killing Pallab.

Ignoring the stark anomalies and lack of evidences, the tribunal ordered Abdul Quader Mollah 15 years imprisonment for ‘complicity’ in commission of Pallab killing.

Charge Two

In this charge, Abdul Quader Mollah is accused of killing poet Meherunnesa. Prosecution witness- 2 Shahidul Haque Mama, Prosecution witness- 4 Poet Kazi Rozi, and prosecution witness -10 Syed Abdul Qaium have also gave statement against Abdul Quader Mollah in the second charge. None of the witnesses had seen the incident and no witness couldn’t tell name of a person from whom they have heard the incident of killing of Poet Meherunnesa.

Second witness of the prosecution Shahidul Haque Mama has heard that poet Meherunnesa had been killed upon the order of Abdul Quader Mollah. But he couldn’t tell the tribunal from whom he has heard the incident. Poet Kazi Rozi has told the Tribunal that Poet Meherunnesa was killed by a group Biharis (Urdu speaking people staying in the erstwhile East Pakistan following 1947) upon the order of Quader Mollah. However, she didn’t hear whether Quader Mollah had killed poet Meherunnesa. During June of 2011, poet Kazi Rozi published a book titled Shahid Kabi Meherunnesa. She has written in detail description of killing of poet Meherunnesa. But name of Abdul Quader Molla is found nowhere in her book let alone as killer of poet Meherunnesa.

Prosecution witness Syed Abdul Qaium told the tribunal that Biharis had killed poet Meherunnesa. The prosecution witness also didn’t put name of Quader Mollah in connection to the killing of poet Meherunnesa. The prosecution totally failed to prove the charges against Abdul Quader Mollah, but the tribunal ordered 15 years of imprisonment for this charge.

Charge Three

In the charge three, Abdul Quader Mollah has been accused of killing intellectual and journalist Khandakar Abu Taleb. Prosecution witness- 5 Khandakar Abul Ahsan and Prosecution witness-10 Syed Abdul Qaium have given statement against Abdul Quader Mollah. Like of the first two charges, both of these two witnesses have told the tribunal that they had heard of the incident. Any of them couldn’t specifically tell about involvement of Quader Mollah in that killing. Collecting from the memorial in Mirpur, the defense counsel submitted the biographies and recorded interviews of the family members and other documents of the martyrs. In the recorded evidences it is found that poet Kazi Rozi has mentioned Bihari Halim as the killer of Khandakar Abu Taleb. In the Tribunal Poet Kazi Rozi was asked why she didn’t mention name of Abdul Quader Mollah as the killer of Khandakar Abu Taleb. Poet Kazi Rozi replied that she didn’t mention the name in fear. Abdul Quader Mollah was arrested in July 2010 and Kazi Rozi has published her book in 2011. The defense asked poet Kazi Rozi how could a person staying inside jail may threaten her while the trial of crimes against humanity was going. The defense also asked about the rationality of threatening a witness by an accused of committing crimes against humanity. But poet Kazi Rozi could not put any words to that question. However, on the basis of the witnesses who have heard the incident, the Tribunal handed down 15 years imprisonment to Abdul Quader Mollah.

Charge Five

In this charge, Abdul Quader Mollah is accused of carrying mass killing at Alobdi village. Prosecution witness -6 Shafiuddin Mollah and Prosecution witness-9 Ameer Hossen Mollah have given statement against Abdul Quader Mollah. Prosecution witness Shafiuddin Mollah claimed their whole family left for Sarulia village of Savar in fear of life. Instead of going with the family members, he stayed behind a bush and watched Abdul Quader Mollah firing on the people. But his younger brother Altaf Hossen Mollah confirmed the Tribunal that all members of their family went to Sarulia village so as his elder brother Sahfiuddin Mollah was with them. So there was no chance of watching the scene staying beside bushes and his statement was totally false.

Another prosecution witness Ameer Hossen Mollah is a notorious terrorist of Mirpur area. Locally he is known as ‘Laat Bhai’ (gang leader). On 13th December of 2001, law enforcers arrested him with illegal arms. Recently, 15/05/102; he has been freed from jail being convicted of occupying land of a sitting judge of the High Court. This person filed a case at Pallabi police station on 25/01/2008 alleging that he watched Nizami, Mujahid and Quader Mollah attacking Alobdi village. He claimed in the case that he took shelter in a pond at Duaripara, at least four miles away from Alobdi village, and watched the accused leading the attack. However, on 26/08/2012 he told the Tribunal that he was at Alobdi village during the time of ‘attack’ and he watched Quader Mollah firing on the people.

These witness statements proves how anomalous the statements are so as these points prove the ill-motivation of the filed charges. But the Tribunal has ordered life time imprisonment of Abdul Quader Mollah accepting these statements.

Charge Six

Abdul Quader Mollah is accused of killing Hazrat Ali Laskar and his family members in this charge. The only witness of the charge is Momena Begum, prosecution witness- 3. She told the tribunal that she heard from some Kamal and Akkas Mollah that Abdul Quader Mollah had killed her father. This witness gave statement about the killing of her father and rape of the family members to the Liberation War Museum during 2007. In her description to the Liberation War Museum, she told that she had left for her in-law house before two days of the day of killing. As she was in her in-laws house, she remained alive. However, in the tribunal, Momena Begum told she was present at the scene.

Acknowledging the only statement, the Tribunal handed down life time imprisonment to Abdul Quader Mollah. Shockingly, during the appeal stage, this was upgraded to the death sentence (!) and eventually he was hanged.

Where was Abdul Quader Mollah during the war?

The witnessed of Abdul Quader Mollah confirmed the Tribunal that during the war, Quader Mollah stayed at Sadarpur village of Faridpur. Defense witness-2, Shushil Chandra Mondal told the Tribunal that since the war of liberation to till November of 1972, Abdul Quader Mollah stayed at the house of Dhola Mia Peer Saheb (an elderly respected religious person). Shushil Chandra also confirmed that Abdul Quader Mollah used teach children of the Dhola Mia. Defense witness-3 Moslem Uddin Ahmed, who as a headmaster of a school in Faridpur, told the Tribunal that Abdul Quader Mollah stayed at the house of Dhola Mia Peer Saheb at Sadarpur of Faridpur and used to teach the children of the family. Defense witness-6 Hafez ( who have memorized the entire Quran) A I M Lokman, who was the Imam ( head of the Islamic Prayer in a Mosque) of Shahidull Hall Mosque of Dhaka University; told the Tribunal that he saw Abdul Quader Mollah leaving the Hall following 7th of March of 1971. He also informed the Tribunal that Abdul Quader Mollah returned to Hall during the late of 1972.