Patuakhali ‘Razakar’ verdict Thursday

-Patuakhali ‘Razakar’ Forkan Mallik verdict Thursday        

-Forkan faces 5 charges including murders and rapes

-DB arrest him June 25, 2014

A tribunal in Dhaka will deliver its verdict on Thursday on Forkan Mallik, an alleged Razakar from Patuakhali, for his alleged crimes against humanity committed during the country’s Liberation War in 1971.

The alleged Razakar commander from Mirzaganj in Patuakhali, Forkan, 64, faces five charges including murder and rape allegedly committed in the southern district during the nine-month-long war.

International Crimes Tribunal-2 led by its Chairman Justice Obaidul Hassan concluded the trial proceedings of Forkan on June 14 and kept the case waiting for its verdict delivery.

On that day, the prosecution sought capital punishment for Forkan as they claimed they had been able to prove all the five charges brought against him. The defence on the other hand prayed for his acquittal, saying the prosecution failed to prove the charges.

Son of Sader Mallik and Sonavan Bibi of Sailabunia village under Mirzaganj, Forkan was an active supporter of the Muslim League, an anti-liberation party in 1971, prosecution said.

He joined the local Razakar force and carried out crimes including murders and rapes under the local Razakar commander, the prosecution charged.

On June 25 last year, the Detective Branch of police arrested Forkan at Rupatali Bus Stand in Barisal in connection with a criminal case. He was later shown arrested for the war crimes case.

The investigation agency of the International Crimes Tribunal completed probe into the allegations against him on October 27 that same year. The tribunal indicted him in five charges on December 18.

The prosecution produced 14 witnesses including the investigation officer, while the defence produced four witnesses.

CHARGES

Killing of four people including two local Awami League leaders in Mirzaganj on August 12; forceful religious conversion of three Hindu brothers in Subidkhali Bazar and their deportation; abduction, rape and subsequently death of a Hindu girl of Subidkhali Bazar on August 17 and 18; abduction and rape of two Hindu girls of Subidkhali Bazar on August 20 and 21 and deportation of their family; and abduction and rape of a Muslim woman and killing another.