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Dhaka //

Interim government’s legal advisor Dr. Asif Nazrul said that the beneficiaries of the Awami League also come and cry and say that they are also deprived. He said this while participating in the national dialogue titled ‘Which way is unity’ at the Krishibid Institution Bangladesh (KIB) auditorium in the capital on Friday afternoon.

Asif Nazrul said, our main responsibility is three. Trial, reform and election. Among them, for me, for the Chief Prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal Mohammad Tajul Islam and for Attorney General Md. Asaduzzaman, the main responsibility is trial. We are determined to try and you will see how seriously we are trying to do the trial. How quickly we have reconstituted this tribunal; everything – judges, prosecution and investigation, everything. There was not even a building. To speed up the construction of this building, I and the construction advisor have gone there four times in person and brother, there is nothing to do, we are doing everything that has been done.

He also said, secondly – I think that during the tenure of this government (Awami League government), not only one genocide or one crime against humanity has taken place. At least four major crimes against humanity have taken place during the tenure of this government. One is the July-August massacre, the BDR massacre, the Shapla massacre and the other is the serial disappearances and extrajudicial killings – although separately, one of them was a concerted effort and a specific plan.

“I want to tell you that as long as our government exists, we will definitely take all the necessary efforts to prosecute these four major genocides,” he said, adding that especially the trial of the July genocide – which we have started, as Tajul correctly said – we are determined.

The legal advisor said, we hope that this trial – I saw in the proposal that this trial will be completed at least in the judicial court before Victory Day next year. We will also celebrate the verdict of punishment for the genocide murderers on Victory Day. We will be able to celebrate other successes – I hope.

He said, now let’s talk about some of our challenges. Apart from the trial, we do a lot of work because we also hear a lot of criticism. So you need to know a little about the work we do behind the scenes. For example – you saw an extra edition against Sheikh Hasina – she should be extradited. This letter was given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but we prepared the letter; the Ministry of Law prepared it. You see that a notice has been issued to Interpol to arrest Sheikh Hasina – it was issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. We prepared it. Many such things.

The legal advisor said, “We actually came to this government or we overthrew the fascist regime – what did we do it for; it was to form a new state. But the people we see are all based on making demands – that I was deprived of promotion, deprived of salary, transferred to a bad place, I was not given this, my salary should be increased and I should be taken to the revenue sector. Everything is centered on the demands of individuals and groups. No one comes to us with a proposal to build a state institution. No one comes to us and says, ‘Who is the Public Prosecution Service doing this?’, ‘Do this for the independence of the judiciary?'” The information we have, starting with you, all the brothers and sisters who are there, are all making their own personal demands. The ministry spends 30% of its time on personal matters. As soon as you come, you start telling in detail how deprived I was during this period and how deprived I was. The person I knew as a beneficiary of the Awami League all my life also comes and cries. I am also deprived. Now I am asking what I will do.

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