Govt not bothered by HRW statement: State minister

Shahriar Alam says the government is not bothered by the statement of HRW over war criminals' execution halt. File photo

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam today said the government is not bothered by today’s statement issued by Human Rights Watch over the trial of death row convict war criminals Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed and Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.

He made the comment while responding to a reporter’s query over the HRW statement today that called upon the government to halt the executions today.

Shahriar was talking to reporters following an “International Seminar on War Crimes: From Nuremburg to Dhaka” organised by Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee at CIRDAP auditorium in Dhaka.

He said, “The government is neither taking the HRW statement into consideration nor feeling bothered by it.”

“The trial will continue as a matter of course,” he added.

In the seminar, former justice Syed Amirul Islam proposed that the government should bring an amendment in the constitution to eliminate the option of presidential clemency for the convicted war criminals.

Speaking at the occasion, Russian Ambassador in Dhaka Alexander A Nikolae said that he is “pretty sure” that the killings and attacks on bloggers, publishers and foreigners were done to halt the war crimes trial including that of Mojaheed and SQ Chowdhury.

Among others, Speaker of the Parliament Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Law Minister Anisul Huq, ICT assistant prosecutor Tureen Afroz and Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee acting president Shahriar Kabir also spoke at the programme.