UPDATE (Bangladesh): Absence of fair trial in alleged false charge against Mr. Akash

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information that Mr. Akash, a human rights defender as well as journalist, has been facing unfair trial in an allegedly false extortion charge against him in Rajshahi. During the court proceedings the prosecutor was seen assisting to the alleged complainant providing information on what to say before the Magistrate, who did not take immediate action to halt this matter despite the matter being brought to his notice by the Mr. Akash’s lawyers.

UPDATED INFORMATION:

The trial of one of the three fabricated extortion cases against journalist and human rights defender, Mr. Jahangir Alam Akash, has been started in the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Rajshahi. On 21 October 2008, the Court, presided over by Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Mr. Abu Saleh Sheikh Mohammad Zahirul Haque, took a deposition from the complainant Mr. Abdul Jalil against Mr. Akash. As Mr. Akash’s principal counsel Mr. Tajul Islam Mohammad Farukh was unable to attend the Court the defense lawyers requested a delay but this was denied by the Magistrate.

During the proceedings Mr. Jalil, the plaintiff of the alleged extortion, failed to give factual information, including the dates of the so-called incident and even the year of the incident when he was asked by the CJM. At this stage, the State’s counsel Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP) of a local Sessions’ Court Mr. Abu Raihan Al-Beruni Minhaz prompted the dates and year after reading the case dairy in support of the complainant. Despite of the protest made by the defense lawyers, Mr. Jamshed Ali and Mr. Sarwar Jahan Tuhin, who were representing Mr. Akash, regarding the prompting of the APP to the complainant terming the action illegal; the CJM overlooked it. The APP repeatedly prompted Mr. Jalil with information whenever he failed to mention anything correctly according to his complaint in the First Information Report (FIR). Following further objections from the defense lawyers as well as the defendant Mr. Akash the CJM ordered the APP not to prompt the complainant with any further information.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

There were three fabricated cases pending before the trial courts in Rajshahi against Mr. Jahangir Alam Akash while two writ cases have been pending before the High Court Division of the Supreme Court (For further details, please see: AHRC-UAU-003-2008).

The cases that Akash has been implicated in are No. 2 of the Boalia police station, dated 2 October 2007 lodged by Mr. Mahfuzul Alam Loton, No. 13 of the Puthia police station, dated 23 October 2007 lodged by Mr. Abdul Jalil and No. 28 of Puthia police station, dated 25 November 2007 lodged by Mr. Abdul Latif Biswas. All cases are extortion charges, which Akash strongly denies.

Case-1:
The High Court Division has extended Mr. Akash’s bail for four months to be effective from 6 July to 6 November 2008. A Bench comprising of Justice Md. Iman Ali and Justice Md. Emdadul Haque of the High Court Division passed this order on 1 July 2008. The Court also adjourned the decision of the application of the Emergency Powers Rules-2007 against Mr. Akash in a case lodged by Mr. Mahfuzul Alam Loton (For further details, please see our previous appeal UP-122-2007) with the Boalia police station of the Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP). The police submitted an alleged fabricated investigation report against Mr. Akash, and case has been under trial with the Chief Metropolitan Judicial Magistrate’s Court of Rajshahi.

The High Court Bench passed the recent order following up a similar order passed by another Bench of the High Court Division, comprising Justice A B M Khairul Haque and Justice Md. Abdul Awal granted ad-interim bail on 2 January 2008. On the previous occasion the High Court Division of the Supreme Court granted bail to Mr. Akash until 6 July 2008.

Case-2:
The second case was lodged by Mr. Abdul Jalil, who has been prosecuted in a murder case for an alleged killing of a complainant of a rape case against his son, by the alleged instruction of the officers of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-5, based in Rajshahi city. The case was recorded on 23 October 2007 in the night, and keeping the information undisclosed for next few hours the RAB-5 officers arrested Akash from his house without explaining any reason or showing any warrant of arrest.

The police investigator charged Akash for extortion in the investigation report (Charge Sheet), which was submitted to the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court of Rajshahi on 27 February 2007. The Magistrate Mr. Abu Saleh Sheikh Md. Zahirul Haque accepted the framed charge against Akash on 7 July 2008 basing on the police investigation report.

Case-3: 
In the third case, the Investigating Officer Sub Inspector Mr. Amzad Hossain of the Puthia police station submitted an investigation report to the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court of Rajshahi on 8 January 2008. The report found the extortion charge against Mr. Akash false. The Chief Judicial Magistrate Mr. Abu Saleh Sheikh Md. Zahirul Haque accepted the investigation report on 19 June 2008 and ordered to discharge Mr. Akash. However, the Magistrate refused the petition of the police regarding filing charge against the complainant under Section 211 of the Penal Code of 1860 for the offence of false charge with intent to cause injury to any person. Mr. Abdul Latif Bishwas, a local leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), allegedly having been influenced by the officers of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-5, lodged this complaint with t he Puthia police station in Rajshahi district on 25 November 2007 against Akash.

The lawyers of Mr. Akash allege that the Magistrate might have been pressurized by the law-enforcement agencies and concerned governmental officers for not to hold the complainant, Mr. Abdul Latif Bishwas, for filing a false case. Due to the alleged pressures from the agencies the Magistrate prolonged the process, and spent around five months since the investigation report was submitted before the Court, to pass this order while four dates were changed in between.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The prompting information to the complainant by the State’s counsel is reverse to the concept of fair trial and justice. The incapacity of the CJM to resist the APP from prompting information to the complainant in the first occasion raises serious question about the impartiality of the Court itself. The Public Prosecutors and other public law officers do not appear before the Magistrate Courts in Bangladesh as an officially established custom. Instead, the police run the prosecuting job in this branch of the judiciary in the country. Experienced lawyers and prosecutors opine that the prosecutors only appear before the Magistrates when the local Administration concentrates to any particular case for the government’s exclusive interest on it. The appearance of the assistant public prosecutor to plead the case on behalf of the State gives rise to the question that the governmental authority wants to pay extra-attention to this particular case where as all other cases of the same court is unattended by any of the prosecutors.

Akash is afraid that following repeated pressures from the law-enforcers, especially, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the trial courts may order to put him in jail again cancelling his bail as soon as the tenure of the bail granted by the High Court will be over on 6 November. He is also afraid as a result of a recent verdict passed by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, which declares that any person implicated in the Emergency Power Rules of 2007 is not eligible to get bail until the trial is over regardless whatever the charge against the accused person is.

The prime perpetrator, Major Rashidul Hassan Rashid, a military officer deputed in the RAB, has been recruited to serve in the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Ivory Coast; he was reportedly left the country to join the UN Mission on 10 July 2008. This is another picture that how the Bangladeshi authorities look into the matters of human rights abuses and treats the victims and the perpetrators as well, according to their policy.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the authorities listed below and urge them to ensure fair trial for the case lodged against Mr. Akash.

The AHRC writes a separate letter to the Special Rapporteurs on Independence of Lawyers and Judges and human rights defenders calling for intervention in this case. It also writes a letter to the Under Secretary General of the UN Peacekeeping Mission concerning the involvement of Rashid torturing Mr. Akash.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER