Arrest order for SQ Chy's wife, son

The Dhaka Cyber Tribunal yesterday issued arrest warrant against the wife and son of convicted war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and one other in connection with the case filed for allegedly leaking the draft verdict of a war crimes tribunal that sentenced him to death.

Judge KM Shamsul Alam passed the order after taking the charge sheet of the case into cognisance and asked the Dhanmondi and Satkhira police, under which the three reside, to submit compliance reports on October 30.

The court also asked the prison authorities to produce four other accused, who are now in jail, before it on the same day.

The draft verdict of the case against the top BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury had been leaked a day before the International Crimes Tribunal-1 delivered the judgement on October 1 last year, raising serious questions over the security of the highly protected tribunals.

Following a case, detectives on August 28 pressed charges against seven persons including Salauddin's wife Farhat Quader Chowdhury and son Humam Quader Chowdhury for allegedly leaking the verdict. Of the seven, Farhat, Humam and Mehedi Hasan, assistant to Salauddin's lawyer Fakhrul Islam, were shown fugitive in the charge sheet.

Four other accused -- Salauddin's manager Mahbubul Ahsan, Fakhrul Islam, the tribunal's office assistant Faruk Hossain and janitor Nayan Ali -- are now in jail.

After receiving the charge sheet, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Dhaka on September 23 transferred the case to the cyber tribunal, as the case falls under its purview.

If found guilty, the accused may face highest 14 years' imprisonment or up to Tk 1 crore in fine or both.