ICT: Tajul sought removal of prosecutor Sultan 1.5 months ago
Approximately one and a half months ago, the then chief prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), Mohammad Tajul Islam, requested the removal of prosecutor BM Sultan Mahmud on various allegations, including breach of trust, violation of discipline and code of conduct, assault on a security guard, and abuse of his wife.
He sent a letter on 11 January to Asif Nazrul, who was serving as law adviser to the former interim government, seeking this action. Tajul Islam confirmed the matter to Prothom Alo.
After the interim government assumed office, Tajul Islam received appointment as chief prosecutor of the Tribunal. However, on Monday, the new government led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) cancelled his appointment.
On the same day, prosecutor Sultan Mahmud levelled allegations against him on social media, accusing him of corruption and irregularities in the judicial process.
In this context, the earlier letter sent by Tajul Islam to the then law adviser requesting Sultan Mahmud’s removal has now come to light.
In the letter, Tajul Islam stated that he had learned that prosecutor Sultan Mahmud had been supplying important and highly confidential information of the Tribunal to various places without authorisation from the authorities.
He wrote that providing significant and confidential case-related information elsewhere without approval from the office of the chief prosecutor constituted an unlawful act and posed a serious security threat to sensitive cases under investigation and trial.
Tajul Islam further alleged that while travelling in the lift of the High Court Annex Building, prosecutor Sultan Mahmud became agitated over a trivial matter and verbally abused High Court security guard Md Main Uddin in obscene language.
He then allegedly instructed his gunman to forcibly take the guard to a Bar Association office room, where he severely assaulted him.
Tajul Islam wrote that the guard sustained injuries to his jaw, hands, head and other parts of his body and that Sultan Mahmud threatened to shoot him.
In the letter, Tajul Islam stated that he had learned that prosecutor Sultan Mahmud had been supplying important and highly confidential information of the Tribunal to various places without authorisation from the authorities.
He added that such conduct had severely tarnished the image of both the ICT’s prosecution team and the Tribunal itself.
Tajul Islam also alleged that Sultan Mahmud instructed his gunman to shoot people indiscriminately over trivial matters.
In the letter, he stated that four gunmen had voluntarily expressed unwillingness to continue their duties with Sultan Mahmud over these allegations. As a result, the authorities had to replace the gunmen immediately.
In his request for removal, Tajul Islam further alleged that Sultan Mahmud had subjected his wife to physical, mental and social abuse and that she had filed a complaint in this regard.
The former chief prosecutor also alleged that Sultan Mahmud had attempted to obstruct ongoing judicial proceedings by summoning case witnesses and victims to his residence at various times and providing misleading advice, false information and incitement.
In the letter, Tajul Islam wrote that such actions had brought the Tribunal’s prosecution team into question and damaged the court’s reputation.
He stated that Sultan Mahmud had disobeyed official directives, shown negligence and lack of interest in discharging his duties, failed to perform his responsibilities properly, and regularly displayed neglect and dereliction in carrying out assigned tasks.
For these reasons, Tajul Islam requested the removal of Sultan Mahmud from the post of prosecutor.
He attached to the letter a written complaint submitted by security guard Main Uddin to the chief prosecutor and a handwritten letter from Sultan Mahmud’s wife addressed to the chief prosecutor.
They conspired against me out of fear that I might disclose information about their corruption. As part of that deep conspiracy, they had prepared these matters in advance so that they could use them against me at the appropriate time. If I had committed any wrongdoing, they would have issued a show-cause notice or taken action—none of which they did.BM Sultan Mahmud, Prosecutor, International Crimes Tribunal
In response, prosecutor BM Sultan Mahmud told Prothom Alo, “Security guard Main Uddin intentionally struck my leg. As the offence was proven, the Supreme Court administration took disciplinary action against him.”
He described the allegations against him as false and motivated. He also termed the accusations of abusing his wife or leaking confidential information as “completely false”.
Sultan Mahmud said, “They conspired against me out of fear that I might disclose information about their corruption. As part of that deep conspiracy, they had prepared these matters in advance so that they could use them against me at the appropriate time. If I had committed any wrongdoing, they would have issued a show-cause notice or taken action—none of which they did.”
Following the decision to try the July killings at the International Crimes Tribunal, which was originally established to prosecute war crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation War, the interim government reconstituted the Tribunal after assuming office.
On 5 September 2024, it appointed Supreme Court lawyer Mohammad Tajul Islam as chief prosecutor.
Prior to that appointment, Tajul Islam had represented leaders of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami as defence counsel in cases concerning crimes against humanity committed in 1971 before the same Tribunal.