Tureen Afroz removed from International Crimes Tribunal

The government has removed Barrister Tureen Afroz from the post of prosecutor of International Crimes Tribunal over alleged meeting held secretly with an accused of crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War.

Solicitor Wing under the Law and Justice Division of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs issued a notice in this regard on Monday.

The order will come into effect on Monday (November 11), the notice said.

Earlier on May 9 last year, Tureen Afroz was relieved of all activities of the tribunal for professional misconduct and breaching discipline and code of conduct.

The tribunal pulled her out of all case for allegedly handing case documents over to a war-crimes suspect in a secret meeting.

According to media reports, Tureen allegedly met Muhammad Wahidul Haque, a war crimes suspect and former head of the National Security Intelligence and the Department of Immigration and Passports.

Chief Prosecutor of the tribunal Ghulam Arief Tipoo, in a letter sent to Tureen, alleged that the two met in a Gulshan restaurant on Nov 19, 2018, eight days after she was handed the case.

He said they came to know about the three-hour meeting and her conversations with the suspect from audio records on Wahidul’s mobile phone.

Gulshan Police Station OC Abu Bakr Siddique brought to the prosecution’s attention the records after police arrested Wahidul on Apr 24 and seized his mobile phone.

Tureen Afroz was appointed to the International Crimes Tribunal as a prosecutor in February 2013.