Defence lawyer M. Sarwar Hossain has claimed that the 15 army officers who ‘surrendered’ to the court in connection with three cases of crimes against humanity are innocent. He also claimed that the actual perpetrators had fled to India.

He made the remarks on Wednesday after the 15 officers were produced before the International Crimes Tribunal as accused. Following the tribunal’s order to send them to jail, the officers were taken to the sub-jail in Dhaka Cantonment.

Advocate Sarwar, who represented the 15 accused officers during the hearing, told journalists afterward, “The 15 officers, who had earlier been attached by an order from Army Headquarters, voluntarily surrendered before the International Crimes Tribunal today out of respect for the law. They are senior and experienced officers — many have even served in international missions. They all hope to receive justice through this court.”

In response to the prosecution’s statement that the army officers had been arrested and brought to court, the defense lawyer clarified, “We know they surrendered voluntarily. However, since they surrendered through the police to the court, it was described as an arrest. They were never actually arrested. Earlier, the Army Headquarters had briefed that they were under army custody.”

The officers are: Maj Gen Sheikh Md Sarwar Hossen; Brigadier Generals Md Jahangir Alam, Tofayel Mostofa Sarwar, Md Qamrul Hasan, Md Mahbub Alam, Md Mahbubur Rahman Siddique and Ahmed Tanvir Majahar Siddique; Colonels Anowar Latif Khan, AKM Azad, Abdullah Al Momen and Md Sarwar Bin Kashem; Lieutenant Colonels Md Moshiur Rahman Jewel, Saiful Islam Sumon and Mohammad Redowanul Islam; and Major Rafat Bin Alam Moon.

The government had designated a building of the Military Engineer Services (MES) in Dhaka Cantonment as a temporary jail. According to a gazette notification issued by the home ministry on October 12, MES Building No 54, located north of Bashar Road, had been declared as a temporary jail under the provisions of the Prisoners Act, 1984.

FP/MI