Jail Killing Case

The endless dragging out of this case has us perplexed. Let us not forget that it was over twenty years before the case was even brought to trial. This was because the accused were protected from prosecution by the shameful Indemnity Ordinance that was enshrined in the Constitution, and no government before the AL government elected in 1996 saw fit to correct this blot on the nation's honour.

That the current government had no interest in bringing the killing of four respected national leaders to trial can be deduced by the fact that it never sought to overturn the Indemnity Ordinance in its first term in office, and the current foot-dragging with respect to the prosecution of the case lends credence to this inference.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

That the judge, now that he has thankfully regained his health, would at this belated date agree to hear one last witness before passing judgement is unusual. We are at a loss to understand how the defence was apparently unable to present its case in full in the eight years that it has been pending, and that it would need to introduce new evidence (in the form of witness testimony) on the date the verdict was to be delivered.

To us, the last minute petition to depose witness Saifuddin Ahmed appears to be a transparent legal ruse to draw out the proceedings even longer, especially given the fact that Mr. Ahmed could have been deposed at any time in the past eight years.

The nation awaits this verdict with great anticipation. After twenty-nine years, the people, the victims, their families, and even the defendants, deserve justice, and justice is manifestly not served by the seemingly endless protraction of the case.