Eminent British lawyer Toby Cadman, who is representing five Bangladesh  Jamaat-e-Islami leaders accused of committing international crimes  during the country’s 1971 liberation war, fears that many of the accused  will be convicted by the symbolic date of Dec. 16 this year and will be  executed by March 25, 2013.

This is the reason the flawed  International Crimes Tribunal is rushing through the trial process by  restricting the number of defense witnesses to only 12 in the case of  one of the high-profile accused, said Cadman, who was recently in Jeddah  for – what he described as – pressing upon individuals who have  influence to take the lead in raising the issue with the Bangladesh  government.

“My hope is that countries of influence, countries  that have an interest in Bangladesh and countries in which Bangladesh  has an interest will address the situation,” said Cadman in an exclusive  interview with Saudi Gazette here last week.

“The defense is  required to submit a list of witnesses. This in itself is a fundamental  flaw. There is nothing wrong in giving an estimate for time management,  but disclosing the names of defense witnesses to the prosecution will  enable them to change the case,” said Cadman, who is an international  criminal law specialist in the areas of war crimes, extradition and  human rights.

He said that 12 is a very arbitrary number.

“Looking  at the way they (the judges of the Tribunal) are now scheduling some of  the cases, it is evident that the Tribunal is prioritizing time,” said  the lawyer who had been senior legal counsel to the chief prosecutor of  the Bosnian war crimes chamber.

“If you listen to the statements  made by members of the prosecution team, it is evident that the  government has the clear intention to convict and ultimately execute at  least three – Prof. Ghulam Azam, Maulana Delwar Hossain Sayeedi and  Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury – on or by Dec. 16 of this year,” he said.

The date is significant in Bangladesh’s history as on that day 41 years ago the former East Pakistan received its independence.

Cadman,  who was refused entry into Bangladesh last year, believes that the  government of Sheikh Hasina will do everything to execute these people  because they are afraid that if they give them long-term prison  sentences and if the governing party then loses the next election, then  there is a risk that these people will be released by the new  government.

There is also the notion that in order to garner  sufficient mass support, they need to fulfill their election pledge and  execute these people.

Cadman said that in breach of all legal  norms many members of the government and prosecution team have stated in  public when the trial is going to finish, how it is going to finish,  and which individuals are going to be executed.

“This is a pre-ordained end to the trial process which is full of flaws,” said Cadman.

He  said that if Bangladesh presses ahead and carries out the executions,  the consequences will be grave: the country will be diplomatically  isolated.

“There is a UN Human Rights Council session in March  and Bangladesh has its periodic review in June by the UN, which has said  that the trial process is arbitrary.”

The International Crimes  Tribunal (ICT), which was set up in 2010 to try suspects for war crimes  committed during the Bangladesh Liberation War, has faced intense  criticism from the UN, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and  the International Bar Association among others for violating  international legal standards.

This is neither an international  tribunal nor a domestic tribunal. This is something ambiguous, says  Cadman, adding that an international tribunal should have international  judges, international prosecutors and should be conducted under  international law. This is not a domestic tribunal either, because it  excludes domestic rules of procedure and evidence applied in all  criminal cases in Bangladesh under the Criminal Evidence Act and the  Criminal Procedure Act.

Those charged with crimes under the  jurisdiction of the Tribunal are denied the fundamental freedoms and  rights normally enjoyed by Bangladesh citizens under the country’s  Constitution. An accused person enjoys the full protection of  constitutional rights including the provision for their enforcement  under Article 44. But the first constitutional amendment (the recent  insertion of Article 47A) prevents any person accused of crimes  committed during the war of liberation from going to the Supreme Court.

“Why  is the Bangladesh government so afraid of an international inquiry into  the cases,” asks Cadman, adding, “If the evidence is so compelling then  what does the government have to fear?”

“If three million people  were killed then it is on a level with Cambodia. There is an  international tribunal in Cambodia. The cases should not be dealt with  by local judiciary,” said the international lawyer who has – in his  words – forced the international community to wake up by speaking about  the witch hunt being carried out by the present Bangladesh government  against the Jamaat leaders.

“I am not going to stop until I have exhausted all avenues of appeal,” says an emphatic Cadman.