ICT rejects bail of JP lawmaker Hannan, son

The International Crimes Tribunal on Thursday rejected bail of Jatiya Party (Ershad) lawmaker MA Hannan, from Mymensigh-7 constituency, and his son Rafique Sajjad in a case for crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War in 1971.
The three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Anwarul Hoque, passed the order.
The tribunal also directed the jail authorities to take necessary steps for their medical treatment.
Advocate Mizanul Islam and Abdus Sobhan Tarafder stood for the accused while Sultan Mahmud Shiman moved for the state.
Earlier on January 25, the tribunal had fixed Thursday (February 4) for delivery of the order after a hearing and also asked the prosecution to submit the progress report against the accused on March 23.
On May 19 last, Rahima Khatun, widow of martyr freedom fighter Abdur Rahman of Bailor Munshipara in Trishal upazila in Mymensingh, registered a case with the District Cognizance Court-1 against three people, including MA Hannan, for allegedly committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War.
The case was filed with the Senior Judicial Magistrate Court No. 1 of Mymensingh under Section 3 (2) of International Crimes Tribunal Act 1973.
Later, magistrate Ahsan Habib sent the case to the ICT in Dhaka.
In the case statement, Rahima alleged that Hannan, the then secretary of Mymensingh Peace Committee, an anti-liberation organisation, and other local collaborators, including Fakruzzaman and Rabbani of the Pakistani army, held her husband at Bhangnamari Char in Gouripur upazila on August 9, 1971.
Rahman was later taken to a torture cell set up by the Pakistani army on Bangladesh Agricultural University campus and Hannan himself shot him dead after torturing him, the complainant alleged.
Police arrested Hannan and his son from Gulshan area in the capital on October 1 last.