The email and Skype accounts of the International Crimes Tribunal-1 chairman have been hacked. The Economist has in its possession the correspondence between the tribunal chief and a Brussels-based legal expert.
Justice Md Nizamul Huq, chief of one of the two tribunals formed to try those who committed crimes against humanity in 1971, yesterday said he came to know this alarming developments two or three days ago.
Then on Wednesday night, he received a phone call. The person on the other side claimed the call was from the London-based weekly and the paper possessed the record of his Skype conversation with International Criminal Law expert Dr Ahmed Ziauddin.
At one stage of closing arguments by defence counsel of Delawar Hossain Sayedee on Thursday, the chairman said he had occasionally discussed with Dr Ahmed, a Bangladeshi living in Brussels, the developments on International Criminal Law.
On Thursday the tribunal served a notice on two journalists of The Economist -- Chief Editor Rob Gifford and South Asia Bureau Chief Adam Roberts.
It asked the duo to reply within three weeks why proceedings under 11(4) of International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973 shall not be taken against them.
The tribunal asked The Economist to keep secret the information which it had gathered from the chairman's Skype and email accounts. Otherwise, proper action will be taken.
The court also ordered sending copies of the directives to the inspector general of police and the chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission for necessary action.
Issuing the order, Justice Nizamul said the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973 is a new law. To understand the law, it is necessary for the judges to look into the process and orders of different tribunals and consult experts.
He has had privileges of consulting expatriate Bangladeshis, including Dr Ahmed.
“Yesterday [Wednesday] at about 10:00pm, the chairman received a telephone call from +919810016662 [Indian number],” the order read.
The person on the phone said the call was from The Economist and “the conversation between the chairman and Dr Ahmed Ziauddin is in their possession”.
“The caller also asked the chairman some questions regarding this information,” the order read.
“By questioning him over the telephone, the person on the other side has also involved himself in speaking with the chairman.” This is not allowed under the law, it added.
Justice Nizamul mentioned the email and Skype accounts of Dr Ahmed had also been hacked and all the materials he had received from the expert were also in the paper's possession.
Terming it “a serious breach of privacy”, he said the persons involved in disturbing the ongoing processes of the tribunal have links to the hacking.
Breach of privacy through hacking in the pursuit of stories has been discussed around the globe, especially in the United Kingdom, for the last two years.
Last year, the UK launched an inquiry, headed by Lord Justice Leveson, into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press following the News International phone hacking scandal.
The scandal, which has led to the closure of the News of the World, halted Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB takeover bid, and prompted the arrest of several key figures.
It was the Daily Star’s report about hacking ICT chairman’s Skype talks and email by The Economist. Let’s see the New Age’s report in this regard published on Friday, December 7.
The International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Thursday asked the chief editor and South Asia bureau chief of British weekly, The Economist, to answer in three weeks why proceedings should not be initiated against them for breach of privacy.
The tribunal chairman, Justice Nizamul Haque, passed the order on Adam Roberts, South Asia bureau chief, and Rob Gifford, Chief Editor of The Economist,for serious breach of privacy, hacking computer, e-mail and Skype accounts and obtaining confidential information from the chairman illegally,’ which, the tribunal said, amounted to influencing a judge of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.’

The order said that the tribunal chairman had come to know that the e-mil accounts, skypes and computers of the chairman and Brussels-based international law expert Ahmed Ziauddin, with whom the chairman occasionally had discussions, had been hacked ‘which makes it clear that the persons who are involved in disturbing the ongoing process of this tribunal are involved in this matter’.
The tribunal said that after initiating the tribunal, the judges had mentioned in the open court room that the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973 was new to them and that they needed consultations with and assistance from prosecution, defence and experts.
‘They [the judges] can also take assistance of researchers at home and abroad and with this understanding and knowledge from all such people, the trial process is continuing in this tribunal,’ the tribunal said.

It said that the chairman had privilege of receiving support of Ahmed Ziauddin and some other Bangladeshis living in Brussels and other places and the chairman had occasionally discussions with Ziauddin on the developments on international crimes law throughout the world and had taken his assistance in this respect.
‘In this respect they have had discussions through Skype. Just two to three days earlier, the chairman found that his e-mail and Skype accounts, along with the computer, have been hacked,’ the order said.

It also said that on Wednesday at around 10:00pm, the chairman had received a telephone call from a person who said that the call was from The Economist and told the chairman that the conversation between the chairman and Ziauddin was in their possession and asked some questions regarding the information.
‘He [caller] also mentioned that the chairman regularly talks to Ahmed Ziauddin through Skype and receives his advice through email… This is how the chairman became aware of this alarming development,’ it said.

The order says, ’This also explains a serious breach of privacy, hacking computer, e-mail and Skype accounts and obtaining confidential information from the chairman illegally which amounts to influencing a judge of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. And by questioning him over telephone, the person on the other side has also involved himself in speaking with the chairman which under the law he cannot do.’

The tribunal also directed Adam Roberts and Rob Gifford to keep secret the information which they had gathered from the Skype and e-mail accounts as well as the computer of the chairman ‘as this makes public, the privacy of the chairman which need to be kept secret and in case they violate it, proper action under the law will be taken.’
The tribunal set December 27 for further order in this regard.
Jamaat-e-Islami Called countrywide strike on 4 December. On 5 December The New Age headline was `Hit-and-run rampage marks Jamaat’s general strike’

The New Age reported, Hit-and-run rampage by the Jamaat-e-Islami marked the dawn-to-dusk general strike the party enforced on Tuesday across the country demanding release of war crimes suspects facing trial, damaging and burning vehicles on the road, prompting lawmen to fire rubber bullets and teargas shells.

The police and witnesses said that scores of people, including police personnel, were injured and many were arrested during the strike hours in the capital and other places across the country.
Activists of Jamaat and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir carried out violent picketing amid heavy deployment of law enforcers across the country.
They darted out in groups into the roads and attacked the police and damaged or burnt vehicles.
In the capital Dhaka, pickets came out on the roads at dawn, attacking buses and CNG-run auto-rickshaws passing by to create panic. The also fought with the police with sticks and stones, burnt several buses and a police van in the first few hours of the strike.
Jamaat and Shibir activists also damaged a US embassy vehicle at Khilkhet and tried to set it on fire. The driver and several policemen became injured in the attack.
Witnesses said that 11 Jamaat and Shibir activists were injured and sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment after a clash with activists of the Juba League, the young front of the ruling Awami League, and the Chhatra League, the student wing of the ruling party at Pallabi in the afternoon. The pickets also damaged 15 buses parked by the road in the place.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police said that 13 vehicles had been damaged and a bus was burnt in the capital. Sixty-nine pickets were arrested at places in the city.
After the strike hours, Jamaat announced countrywide protests for Wednesday against the killing of Shibir activist Mujaheed, who died as the police fired rubber bullets into a procession, at Ranir Bandar in Dinajpur on Monday night.
The party said that the protests were also meant against the attack on Jamaat and Shibir processions by the police and Awami League goons.

The party announced that prayer sessions would be held across the country for December 7 for the slain Shibir activist.

The acting Jamaat amir Mokbul Ahmad announced the programmes through a press statement. He also thanked people for making the day’s countrywide general strike successful.
The Jamaat leader said that with the successful enforcement of the strike on Tuesday, people have showed that they had no confidence in the government.
He claimed that about 400 leaders and activists of Jamaat and Shibir had been arrested at places across the country on Monday and Tuesday.

Pickets burnt a police van in Brahmanbaria and and a bus in Narayanganj. They also attacked police vehicles in Sylhet and exploded crude bombs into the police at Binodpur in Rajshahi.
Reports from Brahmanbaria said that Jamaat activists had burnt a police van at Pir Bari. The police arrested one Jamaat activist at the place and five others at Kasba.
In Narayanganj, Jamaat activists burnt a bus at Delpara of Fatullah, which had suspended vehicle movement on the Dhaka–Narayanganj Highway for two hours.
The police fired blank shots in Sylhet as pickets clashed with them and damaged about 10 vehicles, including a police van and a bus and burnt a police motorcycle at Dakkhin Surma early in the day.

The police also fired 25 rounds of teargas shells to disperse pickets. At least 15 people, including a policeman, were injured in the clashes. The lawmen arrested four Shibir activists at the police, the police and witnesses said.

In Rajshahi, Shibir activists exploded crude bombs into the police on the Dhaka–Rajshahi Highway near Rajshahi University at dawn. In the city, Shibir activists clashed with the police off and on and damaged a number of vehicles.
The police arrested 27 pickets at places in the Khulna city during the strike. The pickets damaged two trucks and four easy bikes at Labanchara, Boyra and on Anjuman Road under the Daulatpur police station.
Pickets in Barisal blocked roads, damaged vehicles and clashed with the police. Fifteen pickets were arrested.
In Chittagong Jamaat and Shibir activists damaged seven vehicles and the police arrested 13 people on charge of vandalism.

At Savar on the outskirts of the capital city, pickets burnt a bus about 6:30am.
In Bogra, pickets clashed with the police at Fatkir Bridge at Shajahanpur in the morning. At one point, the police fired shotguns to disperse pickets and arrested one at the spot. The police arrested nine other Jamaat and Shibir activists at places in the district.

In Dinajpur, pickets damaged a BRTC bus and a truck at Pirganj and in the Dashmail crossing on the Dhaka–Dinajpur Highway about 11:30am. The police picked up five Jamaat and Shibir activists at Pirganj.

In Pabna, Jamaat and Shibir blocked the Dhaka–Pabna Highway at Ishwardi and the Pabna–Kushtia Highway for an hour from about 7:00am. They also vandalised a police van and a human hauler. The police arrested 25 activists.
In Chapainawabganj, pickets vandalised a police van at Shibtala and four trucks in the Bishwa Road crossing in the town about 8:00am.
Jamaat and Shibir activists also blocked the Chapainawabganj–Rajshahi Highway and the road from Chapainawabganj to Sonamasjid land port for five hours beginning about 6:30am with logs and electric poles.

Import and export through the Burimari land port at Patgram in Lalmonirhat was normal.
Ten pickets were injured in clashes with the police and the Chatra League at Tongi in Gazipur. The police arrested one person at Board Bazar. Shibir activists blocked the Dhaka–Mymensingh Highway with logs.

At least 10 pro-BNP lawyers, including Mir Ruhul Amin, the general secretary of the Sirajganj Bar Council, are reported to have been assaulted by opponent pro-Awami League lawyers in morning when they were going to stop judicial activities in Sirajganj court during strike hours.

Some pro-Awami League lawyers and some outsiders, after the incident, vandalised the room of the bar council general secretary and the president and confined Ruhul Amin and some others for at least three hours.

The police and Rapid Action Battalion controlled the situation in the afternoon.
On 5 December The Daily Star’s headline was `Jamaat strikes, flees’
They wrote Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir activists yesterday (4 December) vandalised and set fire to several vehicles in Dhaka and other districts during their countrywide daylong hartal using the hit and run tactic.
Stray incidents of clash, chases and counter-chases and detentions also marked the hartal, in which the agitators resorted to brisk attacks on law enforcers and quick retreats. They burnt tyres on the streets to obstruct traffic movement.
They even attacked a US embassy vehicle. The embassy protested the attack and Jamaat, admitting responsibility, apologised and offered compensation.
The Jamaat-Shibir men vandalised and torched at least 20 vehicles in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Gazipur yesterday.
At least 22 people, mostly passengers of vehicles, were injured as Jamaat-men vandalised 64 vehicles elsewhere in the country yesterday. Five vehicles were also torched.
The pro-hartal activists torched a food-delivery van of police and attacked a police constable in Brahmanbaria.
Around 18 activists of Jamaat and pro-Jamaat student body Islami Chhatra Shibir were injured in the capital after being beaten up by ruling party supporters and locals when they were trying to vandalise and set fire to vehicles at Mirpur-11 and Mughdapara.
Obstructed from holding rallies on Monday, Jamaat-e-Islami had called the hartal. Terming the hartal successful, Jamaat yesterday declared countrywide agitation programme for today and a prayer programme on Friday.
Meanwhile, Shibir called a down-to-dusk hartal in Dinajpur today protesting the death of its union-level leader Monday night following a clash between police and activists of Jamaat-Shibir.
At Khilgaon in the capital, five to six Shibir men suddenly attacked police and tried to snatch rifles from two policemen. Failing, they hurled brick chips and ran away.
Movement of traffic in the capital was small until yesterday noon. Most shops, business houses and educational institutions were closed. Most of the primary and secondary schools in the city and elsewhere in the country suspended their annual exams.
Office-goers had difficulty finding transport to work.
Although no bus on long-distance routes left the capital's three bus terminals, the shutdown did not affect movement of trains and launches, and domestic and international flights.
But passengers who reached Dhaka in the early hours of yesterday faced difficulties going to their respective destinations.
A huge contingent of law enforcers was seen patrolling key areas and intersections in the capital since early morning.
There were reports of violence at Pallabi, Khilkhet, Karwan Bazar, Khilgaon, Sheorapara, near Ruposhi Bangla Hotel, Mirpur, Jatrabari and Savar areas in Dhaka.
In Mirpur-11, at least 12 alleged Jamaat-Shibir men and one transport worker were injured in a clash between them and pro-ruling party men and locals.
Witnesses said the clash erupted when more than 50 Jamaat-Shibir activists reached Mirpur-11 in procession around 3:00pm. They had vandalised over a dozen buses and tried to set two buses on fire on their way from Kalshi Road in Mirpur.
At least six suspected Jamaat-Shibir activists were injured during a clash with Awami League men and locals when they tried to vandalise vehicles at Mughdapara in the city around 1:00pm.
Police detained 238 pro-hartal activists across the country including 69 in Dhaka in connection with vandalism and setting fire to vehicles, said a statement from police headquarters.