KIBRIA MURDER TRIAL ADJOURNS UNTIL LATE FEBRUARY

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 000628

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2010
TAGS: KCRM PHUM BG BG BGD
SUBJECT: KIBRIA MURDER TRIAL ADJOURNS UNTIL LATE FEBRUARY

Classified By: A/DCM D.C. McCullough, reasons para 1.4d


1. (SBU) Summary: The judge of the Kibria murder trial denied
most defense motions before adjourning it until late February
at the earliest. End Summary.


2. (SBU) On February 7, eight defendants charged with the
January 27, 2005, murder of A.M.S. Shah Kibria went on trial
in a speedy tribunal in a packed district courtroom in the
provincial capital of Sylhet. RLA FSN, a UK-trained
Bangladeshi barrister, observed the proceedings.


3. (SBU) Presiding judge Biplob Goswami took two hours to
rule on pre-trial petitions and approve the framing of
charges before adjourning the trial until February 22, when
the prosecution, which has 60 witnesses, hopes to begin its
case.


4. (SBU) Judge Goswami, who was injured in a JMB attack last
October, denied petitions for bail, the retraction of
confessions by four defendants, and dismissal of the case for
an alleged lack of evidence. He announced that he would
defer his ruling on the admission of records seized from the
home of Abdul Quayyum, the lead defendant, until later in the
trial to adduce their relevance. (Note: We believe the
documents refer to Quayyum's bank and telephone records, but
will seek clarification from MHA. None of this documentation
has been made available to the defense.)


5. (SBU) Defense lawyers charged that the confessions of six
defendants were obtained through torture and their statements
were scripted by the police, and that police failed to
examine important witnesses. Several defendants howled
during the proceedings about their plight and torture.
Quayyum's alleged political motivations for the crime, to
remove Kibria as a rival for the local parliamentary seat,
were ludicrous, according to Quayyum's lawyer, Muhammad
Ahsanullah. Quayyum, he said, was too small a political
player to take advantage of Kibria's death, and suggested
that "foreign fundamentalist quarters" were responsible for
the murder.


6. (SBU) In a late development, lawyers representing the
Kibria family obtained a three-week stay of the trial from
the appellate court to appeal the High Court's decision that
it lacked jurisdiction to order the re-opening of the police
investigation due to alleged incompetence. Unless the
prosecution can win a vacate order, the trial at this point
would not resume before February 28 at the earliest.


7. (C) Comment: There is no question that the defendants were
beaten to induce confessions, a common practice in
Bangladesh, since visiting emboffs personally observed the
injuries last spring. The defendant who allegedly threw the
fatal grenades, however, is not among those who have recanted.
CHAMMAS