Chief Prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Tajul Islam today reiterated that once law enforcement agencies show any person as arrested, they are legally bound to produce the accused before the court within 24 hours.
After tribunal proceedings, Tajul was asked whether the army could arrest the 15 officers currently in its custody. He replied that the army has no such authority, stressing that only law enforcement agencies can carry out arrests.
"As long as they have not been shown as arrested, the law does not apply," he said. "If the police officially arrest them, from that moment the law requires that they be produced before the tribunal within 24 hours."
He noted that this requirement is clearly stated in the Constitution, the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973, and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). After being produced, the court will decide where the accused is to be kept.
Responding to a separate query about a home ministry gazette notification declaring a building in Dhaka Cantonment as a sub-jail, Tajul explained that the government has the authority to designate any place as a prison, be it the central jail, the Jatiya Sangsad building, the MP Hostel, or any other place.
"If declared, an accused may be sent there, and that place will be considered a jail," he said.
The tribunal today also continued hearing arguments in the crimes against humanity case against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and two of her top aides for the second consecutive day.
FP/MI
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