Ziaur Rahman murder: Mozaffar Hossain ordered to be produced before tribunal

The International Crimes Tribunal has ordered that former army officer Major (retd) Mozaffar Hossain, arrested in the murder case of former President Ziaur Rahman, be produced before the tribunal. The Bangladesh Army has been directed to present him before the tribunal by 10am on Thursday.

The order was passed on Tuesday by the three-member International Crimes Tribunal-2 led by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury. The other two members of the tribunal are Justice Md Manjurul Basid and Justice Noor Mohammad Shahriar Kabir.

The order came following an application by International Crimes Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam. During the hearing, he informed the court that the 77-year-old Mozaffar Hossain is currently in army custody.

The tribunal said in its order that it is necessary to produce the accused before the tribunal for the effective and proper investigation of the ongoing case on charges of crimes against humanity.

After being on the run for 45 years, Mozaffar Hossain was arrested on Wednesday night from a flat in Dhaka's Banani by the Detective Branch (DB) of police. He was handed over to the Military Police at Dhaka Cantonment the following day.

On May 30, 1981, then-President Ziaur Rahman was killed at the Chittagong Circuit House. According to various historical accounts and published information, Mozaffar Hossain was among the armed army officers who took part in the attack and was present at the scene during the killing. After the incident, he went into hiding, and a reward was announced for his capture at the time.

Following the killing of Ziaur Rahman, 18 army officers were tried in a military court on charges of mutiny. Of them, 13 were executed, while others were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. However, Major (retd) Mozaffar Hossain and Major SM Khaled managed to evade arrest for decades.