Charges against Mojaheed, Kamaruzzaman returned

Quader Molla's charges taken into cognisance, order on taking Nizami's charges into cognisance Jan 9.

 

The International Crimes Tribunal Wednesday returned to the prosecution the charges of crimes against humanity brought against Jamaat-e-Islami leaders Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and Muhammad Kamaruzzaman saying that the charges were not properly arranged and classified.

The tribunal also directed the prosecution to resubmit the charges against Jamaat Secretary General Mojaheed by January 16 after rearranging those properly.

It also ordered the prosecution to reorganise the charges against the party Assistant Secretary General Kamaruzzaman and resubmit those by January 14.

Meanwhile, the three-member tribunal headed by its Chairman Justice Nizamul Huq took the charges against another Assistant Secretary General of the party Abdul Quader Molla into cognisance.

It fixed January 29 for starting the hearing on charge framing against Molla.

The court also asked the prosecution to submit relevant documents and papers relating to the charges brought against Molla to its registrar office by Sunday so that the defence could collect those for taking preparation.

The tribunal fixed January 9 for passing order on whether it will take the charges brought against Jamaat Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami into cognisance. 

During the day's hearing that started around 10:30am on Wednesday, the tribunal said it took time for examining the charges that the prosecution brought against Nizami. 

Advocate Tajul Islam, a counsel for accused Jamaat leaders, told reporters that the prosecution has brought the charges against his clients aiming to harass them politically, destroy their political careers and defeat them politically. 

Earlier in the morning, the four detained leaders were brought to the tribunal's prison for their alleged involvement with crimes against humanity which they hadcommitted during the country's Liberation War in 1971.

The prosecution submitted formal charges against Nizami, Mojaheed and Kamaruzzaman before the tribunal on December 11 while the charges against Quader Molla were submitted on December 18. 

The tribunal is also scheduled to hold cross-examination of sixth prosecution witness Manik Poshari against another Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee relating to his involvement in crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War. 

Jail authorities are supposed to produce Sayedee before the tribunal on Wednesday in this connection.

Source : 

Japan relaxes arms export ban

Japan plans to relax its ban on arms exports so it can jointly develop and produce such arms with other nations, the government's top spokesman said Tuesday.

Osamu Fujimura said in a statement relaxation of the country's longstanding weapons export ban would enable Japan to provide equipment for humanitarian purposes and keep up with the current global environment on weapons production, Kyodo News reported.

The statement, however, noted the government would uphold the principle of Japan being a pacifist nation and avoid international conflicts.

Fujimura's statement was issued after the Security Council of Japan, chaired by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, decided to relax the rules, Kyodo reported.

Fujimura told reporters the government would be "cautious" when dealing with cases that do not fall under its current exceptions.

Under those exceptions, Japan cannot sell weapons to communist states, countries subject to U.N. embargoes or countries involved in international conflicts.

Under the new rules, Japan can participate in joint efforts with friendly nations such as the United States, the report said. Currently, the United States and Europe conduct joint development or production of high-tech weapons such as fighters to cut costs and improve quality.

Source :

CPB, LDP want caretaker restoration

Communist Party of Bangladesh and Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) demanded restoration of the caretaker government system on Tuesday, saying it is a must for credible parliamentary elections.

The two political parties made the recommendation when their delegations met President Zillur Rahman at his official residence Bangabhaban to place their suggestions on formation of a new Election Commission.

During their nearly one-hour talks starting from around 11:00am, a nine-member delegation of LDP heade

d by its Chairman Col (retd) Oli Ahmed said merely a reconstituted EC will not be able to ensure a fair election without the reinstatement of the CG system.

The delegation suggested formation of a 'strong legal framework' for constituting an Election Commission instead of the traditional one.

As per the constitution, the president appoints the chief election commissioner and other commissions in consultation with the prime minister.

The party also informed the president about the government's ongoing crackdown on opposition activists and demanded immediate end of the repression.

When the president asked the LDP for the names of proposed CEC and other commissioners, Oli Ahmed said they want a decision on the CG first. 

A 12-member delegation of the CPB led by its president, Manjurul Ahsan Khan, also held nearly an hour-long meeting from 12:10pm with the president and stressed the need for restoration of the CG system to make the next general election credible. 

They also suggested the government enact a law in line with the constitution to appoint the CEC and other commissioners.

When the president asked them to suggest names for the post of the CEC and other commissioners, the CPB chief said they gave a proposal to him to pick those people for the posts who will be credible to all political parties. 

In reply, Zillur Rahman termed their proposals logical and requested them to send their suggestions in a written form. 

On Monday, the president held talks with two separate delegations of Workers Party and Jatiya Party-JP (JP-Manju) and told them that he will ask the government to enact a law in line with the constitution that will require formation of a "search committee" to find appropriate persons from among whom the chief election commissioner and the other election commissioners will be appointed.

While holding talks with Workers Party, a component of AL-led grand alliance, and JP-Manju at Bangabhaban, the president however said enacting the proposed law is a time consuming matter, meeting sources said.

During the talks, Zillur Rahman urged the leaders of the two parties to submit names of "honest, patriotic, competent and democratic minded" persons to him, who could be appointed as the CEC and other election commissioners.

On Thursday the president held the first round of talks with HM Ershad-led Jatiya Party, and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal. He sought names from them also.

On expiry of the tenure of the present EC in early February, the president, on advice of the prime minister, will have to appoint a chief election commissioner and other election commissioners to form the new EC.

Against such a backdrop, the president started the talks with political parties on December 22, seeking their opinion on the matter.

Source :

Workers Party for rules on EC formation

Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon on Monday urged President Zillur Rahman to formulate rules for appointing a new Election Commission.

Meanwhile, Anwar Hossain Manju-led Jatiya Party (JP-Manju) stressed the need for immediate constitution of a new Election Commission to continue the democratic trend. 

A 12-member delegation of JP-Manju told this to reporters emerging from a meeting held with the president at his residential office. 

During the meeting, the party also assured the president to provide the names of persons 'eligible and accepted by all' for the new EC. 

Earlier in the morning, another eight-man delegation of Workers Party headed by its President Rashed Khan Menon held dialogues with the president for about one hour and a half on the same issue.

“Our proposals were very specific that the president can appoint the chief election commissioner and other commissioners as per Article 118 of the Constitution,” Menon told reporters at Bangabhaban after a discussion with the president.

Menon said the president could either promulgate an ordinance about the rules for appointing the election commissioners according to Article 118 of the Constitution or the Parliament could pass a law in this regard.

As per the rules, he said the president would form a 'search committee' with people holding constitutional posts including the chief justice, chairman of Public Service Commission and comptroller and audit general.

The 'search committee' would select three men against the post of election commissioner and send the probable names to an all-party parliamentary committee, he added.

Menon said the parliamentary business committee will finalise the names after scrutiny of the list and then it will forward a shortlist to the president, who will appoint the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners.

Replying to a question, he said the president sought from them probable names of the commissioners and they told him that the names would be sent later.

About the BNP’s reluctance to join the dialogue with the president, Menon said main opposition BNP should provide their opinions and also explain why they would not attend the dialogue. 

“The country can’t remain still. They can discuss their issues in Parliament,” he said.

Describing the dialogue as fruitful, the Workers Party chief thanked the president for opening such dialogue on the appointment of the EC. “The president’s dialogue is a positive sign. All parties should accept it.”

An eight-member Workers Party delegation, led by Rashed Khan Menon, sat in the dialogue with the president at Bangabhaban around 11:00am. 

Welcoming the delegation, President Zillur Rahman said he called for the dialogue as he wants to take the decision on appointing the next EC after discussions with the country’s main political parties.

He mentioned that the tenure of the present EC will expire on February 14 next year and said that hopefully, such discussions will play an important role in forming the new EC.

Source : 

'Anonymous' hackers hit US security firm Stratfor

The activist hacker group Anonymous says it has stolen thousands of emails, passwords and credit card details from a US-based security think-tank.

The hackers claim they were able to obtain the information because the company, Stratfor, did not encrypt it.

They say Stratfor's clients include the US defence department, law enforcement agencies and media organisations.

The Austin-based company says it has now suspended the operation on its servers and email.

An alleged member of Anonymous posted an online message, claiming that the group had used Stratfor clients' credit card details to make "over a million dollars" in donations to different charities. 

Stratfor later announced that it would keep its email and servers suspended for some time.

It also said the disclosure was "merely a list of some of the members that have purchased our publications and does not comprise a list of individuals or entities that have a relationship with Stratfor".

Anonymous has previously claimed responsibility for cyber attacks on financial institutions seen as enemies of the whistleblowing website Wikileaks.

Source :