Your Excellency, let me introduce myself to you as a Saudi diplomat who visited Bangladesh before it became independent. I was dispatched in the 1960s by the Saudi government to Chittagong to issue Bangladeshi pilgrims Haj visas. In the 1980s I returned to Bangladesh as a plenipotentiary at the Saudi Embassy in Dhaka.
After retirement, a group of people who love Bangladesh decided to form the Saudi-Bangladeshi Friendship Association in Jeddah. Our objective was to strengthen bilateral relations and help the Bangladesh workforce in …

LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands — Convicted war criminal and former Liberian President Charles Taylor said during his sentencing hearing Wednesday that he sympathizes with victims of the civil war in Sierra Leone he helped foment, and asked judges to render their sentence against him in a spirit of “reconciliation, not retribution.”
However, he stopped short of admitting any wrongdoing, apologizing for his actions, or expressing remorse.
In a landmark ruling in April, judges at the Special Court for Sierra Leone found Taylor guilty of 11 counts of war …

(Adds quotes from Taylor’s statement to court)
* Convicted of war crimes, Taylor attends sentencing hearing
* Says West using international courts to bully small nations
* Prosecution says “two-headed” Taylor spoke peace but stoked war
THE HAGUE, May 16 (Reuters) – Former Liberian President Charles Taylor said on Wednesday witnesses had been threatened and paid to testify against him in a trial that found him guilty of crimes against humanity, and described the international court system as a tool of the West.
Taylor – the first head of state …

Jamaat guru Ghulam Azam admitted being on a list of collaborators in 1973 when he was asked to plead ‘guilty or not guilty’ after the first war crimes tribunal read him his charges.
Jamaat-e-Islami’s former chief Ghulam Azam was indicted on Sunday for incitement, conspiracy, planning, abetment and failure to prevent crimes against humanity during the Bangladesh’s War of Independence in 1971.
When asked to plead, the former Jamaat chief said there were numerous charges mentioned. “It is not possible to respond to all of them in a short time. But I …

Star Business Report
Inward remittances fell 2.43 percent to $1.08 billion in March compared to a month ago, but the overall growth in the first ten months of the current fiscal year reached near 11 percent.
During the period, more than $1 billion was remitted from abroad by Bangladeshi migrant workers every month, except September and November, according to data from the central bank.
In March, remittances stood at $1.1 billion.
However, remittances increased by 10.41 percent to $10.61 billion in the first ten months of the …

Ever since the 3rd U.N. General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide on December 9, 1948, international law has faced a paradox. The international community resolved to make the systematic annihilation of populations a universal jurisdiction crime with no statute of limitations. But by protecting some groups and excluding others such as political, gender and sexual identity groups from its protection, it created a legal instrument that has proved to be almost useless given that …

International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-1) Wednesday rejected the review petition and another petition seeking amendment of indictment order of BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury.
The three-member led by ICT-1 Chairman Nizamul Haque passed the order.
Barrister Fakhrul Islam moved for Salahuddin Quader while prosecutor Zead-Al-Malum stood for the state in the hearing.
On April 4, the tribunal indicted SQ Chowdhury MP on charges of wartime ‘crimes against humanity’.
The tribunal also fixed April 29 for the prosecution to place their opening statement against the BNP leader.
A total of 23 charges were brought against SQ Chowdhury …

Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee’s war crimes investigator concluded his deposition at the International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Tuesday with all the senior defence counsels absent for the second consecutive day.
The three-judge tribunal, chaired by Justice Mohammad Nizamul Huq, was set up on Mar 25, 2010 to deal with crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.
The tribunal had adjourned proceedings on Monday considering Jamaat executive council member Sayedee’s personal pleading that none of his senior counsels were present.
Sayedee had declined to accept the services of the tribunal as the chairman …

The prosecution on Wednesday began placing war crimes charges against former Muslim League leader Abdul Alim at the International Crimes Tribunal-2 accusing him of persecution and deportation of two counts each.
Also a former BNP MP and a cabinet member under the party’s founder Gen Ziaur Rahman, Alim has 26 more charges against him that the prosecution has yet to place.
He was introduced as a local Muslim League leader who had actively taken part against the nation’s freedom struggle. Besides his position of Bogra vice-chairman of the infamous Peace Committee, Alim …

Although the Bangladesh government emphasises quick disposal of war crimes cases, the newly formed International Crimes Tribunal-2 sits idle as it has no case to deal with.
“The ICT-2 has no case right now to deal with as only one out of three scrutinised war crimes cases has been transferred to it from the ICT-1 so far,” ICT deputy registrar Mesbahuddin Ahmed told newsmen
yesterday.
It will take time for the ICT-2 for taking up the case already transferred to it as relevant formalities and procedures are yet to be completed, said a …

গোলাম আযমের মুক্তির দাবিতে ঢাকা আরিচা মহাসড়ক অবরোধ ও যানবাহন ভাঙ্চুর মামলায় ১৫ জামায়াত নেতাকর্মীর বিরুদ্ধে অভিযোগ গঠন করেছে আদালত।
সোমবার ঢাকার চিফ জুডিশিয়াল ম্যাজিস্ট্রেট আদালতের বিচারক কাজী শহিদুল ইসলাম শুনানি শেষে দ্রুত বিচার আইনের ৪(১) ধারায় আসামিদের বিরুদ্ধে এ অভিযোগ গঠন করেন।
আসামিদের বিরুদ্ধে আনীত অভিযোগে দোষী কিনা, জানতে চাইলে আসামিরা নিজেদের নির্দোষ দাবি করেন।
আসামিরা হলেন, সাভারের জাবাল-ই নূর মাদ্রাসার অধ্যক্ষ নুরুল আলম, সাভার মডেল কলেজের অধ্যক্ষ তৌহিদ হোসেন, নয়ারহাট গণ বিদ্যাপিঠের প্রধান শিক্ষক হাসান মাহবুব, চাপাইন নিউ মডেল হাইস্কুলের শিক্ষক আ. রহিম, ইউসুফ আলী, এখলাছ উদ্দিন, কাওসার, শাহাদাৎ হোসেন, …

A six-member probe team of the International Crimes Tribunal is now visiting Chittagong to investigate alleged crimes against humanity by BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury in 1971.
Their trip came as part of the preparation for the trial against Salauddin which is scheduled to start on April 29.
After arriving in Chittagong Thursday night, the investigation team talked to local people, leaders and victims’ families, advocate Rana Das Gupta, a member of the ICT team, said at a press conference yesterday evening.
They will spend one more day here in connection with the …