A prominent Bangladeshi rural health activist was today given a token punishment after a warcrimes tribunal found him in contempt for criticising its previous ruling in the case of a British journalist who questioned the official death toll in the country's 1971 independence war.
73-year-old Zafrullah Chowdhury, founder of Ganoshasthaya Kendra, a rural healthcare organisation, was ordered by the three-member International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-2 to stand on dock inside the courtroom for an hour.
The panel punished him with a simple imprisonment for an hour inside the courtroom along with a fine, an official told PTI.
The independence war veteran has been fined Tk5,000 (USD 65). If he fails to pay the fine, he will have to serve a sentence of one month.
Chowdhury is one of the 50 people who in a statement in December had expressed "concern" over the conviction of Dhaka-based British journalist David Bergman, saying the order would restrict freedom of expression.
Twenty-six of the 50 people apologised unconditionally to the court and were acquitted, while a rights activist had earlier disowned being part of the statement.
Bergman was given a token one-day sentence by the tribunal after a lengthy hearing. The tribunal had ruled that a blog and two other articles written by Bergman "hurt the feelings of the nation" and ordered him to pay Tk5,000 fine or go to prison for a week.
Bergman had, in a November 2011 post, questioned if there was evidence to support the 3 million official death toll in the 1971 independence war and referred to studies suggesting the real figure may be much lower.
The ICT, however, exonerated 22 other activists, including Chowdhary's wife, who had also jointly issued the statement.
The tribunal said they were acquitted since they committed the offense for the first time but Chowdhury's was the second time.
Following the verdict today, Chowdhury said: "I have done no wrong, I had fought for the independence of the country and I have the democratic right to criticize on any issue involving the country."
He declined to pay the fine, saying he would challenge the tribunal order before the High Court within the stipulated seven days.
Bangladesh has set up two tribunals to try persons suspected to have committed warcrimes during the independence war with Pakistan in 1971.
