Quader, Nasim, Arafat were not involved in shootings: State defence lawyer

State defence lawyer M Hasan Imam has claimed that Obaidul Quader, general secretary of the now-banned Awami League, and two other leaders had no involvement in the shootings, killings or violence during the July mass uprising. He said no evidence has been found of his clients' personal presence at any of the incident sites, from Mirpur in Dhaka to Chandpur, Lakshmipur, Chattogram or Feni.

He made these remarks after presenting arguments for the defence in a crimes against humanity case at the International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Thursday, August 13 . Seven top leaders of the Awami League, Jubo League and Chhatra League have been accused in the case .

Hasan Imam said that besides Obaidul Quader, he is also representing AFM Bahauddin Nasim, joint general secretary of the Awami League, and former state minister for information and broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat. The prosecution's case against these three is based on the doctrine of 'command responsibility', alleging they ordered the killings.

He argued that command responsibility applies to a battlefield commander for offences committed by subordinates in war, but that Quader, Nasim and Arafat are politicians, not commanders. "All directives came from one person. I will not name them right now. But everyone implemented that person's order. Therefore, my clients are not liable under command responsibility," he said .

The state defence lawyer told the tribunal that witnesses have stated the accused were not present at any of the violence sites. He said the prosecution failed to provide any evidence of his clients' personal involvement in murder or shootings. He argued that those who committed the killings are responsible, not his clients .

When asked who bears command responsibility, Hasan Imam declined to name the person, citing the tribunal's directive not to name individuals outside the case. He said a single person gave the instructions, but that person is not an accused in this case .

Responding to the prosecution's argument that leaders can be held responsible under amendments to the law, Hasan Imam said the relevant section refers to "one person" being responsible. Since no witness testified to his clients' presence at the scene, he has sought their discharge .