Turkey's clemency request condemned

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Different political, social and cultural organisations on Friday strongly condemned the Turkish president for requesting clemency to war criminals. They demanded quick completion of ongoing trials of the crimes against humanity committed during the country’s Liberation War in 1971. Turkish President Abdullah Gul reportedly in a letter recently requested President Zillur Rahman to give "clemency" to the accused under trial in the International Crimes Tribunals for the "sake of peace in the society". President of Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee Justice (retd) Muhammad Ghulam Rabbani, its president in charge Shahriar Kabir and general secretary Kazi Mukul made the demand in a joint press statement. They said Turkish president’s request not to sentence Ghulam Azam, former ameer of Jamaat-e Islami, for committing the crimes against humanity is not only against the diplomatic norms and interference in the internal affairs of Bangladesh, but also a blow to its independence and sovereignty. The judicial system of every country is independent and sovereign and no country can make any comment on the judicial system of other, they said. The comment of the Turkish president about the case against Ghulam Azam before delivery of its verdict is similar to taking a side on behalf of the people, who had committed genocides in 1971, and to express no confidence in the court, which is very condemnable, the statement said. The Turkish president should remember that Turkey had committed the first genocide in the world in the last century, they said, adding that Turkey had killed 15 lakh of Armenians from 1919 to 1921, but no trial was held for the killings. Turkey is still killing Kurdish people without any trial, the statement said. The Nirmul committee leaders urged the government to strongly protest if any country like Turkey makes any statement against the independent judicial system of Bangladesh or its sovereignty and dignity. Kamal Lohani, president of Bangladesh Udichi Shilpigosthi, and its general secretary Prabir Sardar in a statement said that conspiracies to foil the ongoing trial of the 1971 crimes against humanity were going on at home and abroad. The Turkish president’s request is a shameless expression of that conspiracy, they said. The Udichi leaders strongly condemned and protested the Turkish president and demanded Bangladesh government take appropriate and hard diplomatic steps to this end.