A war of words broke out between the prosecution and the defence during the trial of a crimes against humanity case at the International Crimes Tribunal, involving former Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak. At one point, the tribunal asked Palak to stop commenting on a witness’s testimony and warned him to speak less.

The incident took place on Sunday (October 11) during proceedings before a single-member bench of International Crimes Tribunal-1, presided over by Judge Md. Mohitul Haque Enam Chowdhury.

On the day, Mahdi Amin, an official of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), testified as the 10th prosecution witness in the case against Palak and Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

At one stage of his testimony, the witness used the term “retrospective” in response to a question from prosecutor Gazi MH Tamim. Standing in the dock, Palak then addressed the prosecution, saying, “Why are you getting so impatient? I am the one on trial here. Speak patiently. Everyone here is seeking justice. We have not come here to listen to your orders or remarks.”

In response, prosecutor Tamim objected to Palak speaking without permission from the tribunal. He said that if the accused had anything to say, their lawyers should present it and that no accused person could suddenly speak in court without the tribunal’s permission. The exchange led to a verbal altercation between the prosecution and defence lawyers.

Seeking to calm the situation, the tribunal told Palak, “When you get angry, you lose. If you want to speak, you must seek permission. There is no personal enmity here, and no one should take anything personally.”

During the testimony, BTRC official Mahdi Amin referred to a meeting held on July 28, 2024, and mentioned Major General (retd) Ziaul Ahsan, the then director general of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC). The prosecution sought to have that portion of the testimony omitted, arguing that it was not relevant to the main subject of the case. The witness agreed to the request.

At that point, Palak called out to the witness from the dock, saying, “Scared, scared.” The tribunal immediately stopped him and said, “Please sit down and speak less.”

Palak later sought the tribunal’s permission to speak and argued that since the prosecution had questioned the witness and recorded his testimony, removing that portion would require the witness to be declared hostile.

Lawyer Liton Ahmed is representing Palak in the case. As Sajeeb Wazed Joy is absconding, state-appointed lawyer Manzur Alam appeared on his behalf during the hearing.

The prosecution has brought three main allegations against the two accused. According to the allegations, Palak delivered an inflammatory statement on Facebook on the night of July 14, 2024, at Joy’s direction. This was followed by attacks on protesters at Dhaka University and other locations across the country on July 15.

The prosecution has also accused them of inciting the use of lethal weapons and aiding killings by shutting down internet services. A total of 28 people, including Russell and Mosleh Uddin, were allegedly killed in these incidents. They also face allegations of aiding the killing of 34 people in Uttara, in the capital.

On January 21, 2025, International Crimes Tribunal-1 ordered the commencement of the trial after framing formal charges against Sajeeb Wazed Joy and Zunaid Ahmed Palak.