Update: A very good rebuttal - A terrorist Hides in the United states

Update: AP account of Aug 15th 75

Update: Sajeeb Wajed Joy’s spirited counter reply

Update: LA Times interviews Joy

A letter written by AKM Mohiuddin’s son Rouben Mohiuddin that claimed his father’s innocence is posted here. It was a tough call on whether to post or not something that contradicts the known facts in many ways. But then again we can allow our readers to make their own judgement from reading the letter and comparing with what they knew, read or heard.

Here are some links to help you refresh your memory or knowledge on the incident of Aug 15 1975:

The court verdict

A report from Amnesty International on the murder trial and their recommendations

An article on the historic Verdict

Part of Indemnity Ordinance 1975 (signed by Khondokar Moshtaq):

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This Ordinance may be called the Indemnity Ordinance, 1975.Restrictions on the taking of any legal to other proceedings against persons in respect of certain acts and thing …

(a) Notwithstanding anything contained in any law, including a law relating to any defence service, for the time being in force, no suit, prosecution or other proceedings, legal or disciplinary, shall lie, or be taken, in before or by any Court, including the Supreme Court and court Martial, or other authority against any person including a person who is or has, at any time, been subject to any law relating to any defence service, for on account of or in respect of any act, matter or thing done or step taken by such person in connection with, or in preparation or execution or any plan for, or as necessary step towards, the change of Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and the proclamation of Martial Law on the morning of the 15th August, 1975……..

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Now…the Letter from Rouben Mohiuddin
(Note: based on over sixty eyewitness accounts who testified in court during trial as included in the verdict, the blatant lies present in this letter are highlighted in bold)

Here Is The Truth - From The Son Of Maj. AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed

A lot is being said about what happened in 1975 and the current situation now, but I can tell you from first hand experience the truth. I am the son of Maj. Mohiuddin Ahmed . My father’s name is Mohiuddin AKM Ahmed. In America he is know as Din.
My father is a victim of political revenge and he is being deported to a country known for torture and corruption.

In 1975 he was a young major serving faithfully in the Bangladesh Army. In 1975 the president of Bangladesh was Sheik Mujibur Rahman. Mujibur ruled by his absolute authority for four and a half years and nobody dared or was allowed to challenge him.
In 1974, Sheik Mujibur declared a national emergency and stopped all democratic activities and ruthlessly suppressed any one who opposed him. There was no freedom of speech, no open politics, most newspapers and publications banned and all fundamental rights were suspended. One party rule was introduced in January 1975 and Mujibur became president.

By the summer of ‘75 mass starvation and political murders pushed the military to take action. Bangladesh was on the verge of collapsing with the government stealing all foreign aid. According to Dr. Henry Kissinger, in the early 70s, Bangladesh was “a bottomless basket” where any foreign aid disappeared.

On August 15th, 1975 my father was on military night maneuvers, a common training practice during his years in the army. But that night his superiors ordered maneuvers in support of what they claimed was a peaceful coup. It was their intention to force the president to step down and turn over power to a caretaker government.

My father obeyed what he considered to be lawful orders from superior officers to set up a roadblock on a main city street more than one mile from one of the presidential homes. The next morning Din, along with the rest of Bangladesh, learned that during the coup, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and some family members had, regretfully, been killed when the president’s bodyguards fought back the soldiers trying to place Sheikh Mujibur Rahman under military arrest. My father was not in the palace that night. He was a mile away.After the coup, the country did in fact shift to a democratic government and democracy has been part of Bangladesh since, except for brief subsequent coups and political assassinations. Even the US Government, which had never acknowledged Bangladesh before, immediately established a diplomatic relationship with the post-coup new government in 1975.
Some time after the coup, those involved were absolved by the Government of Bangladesh for any wrongdoing, and many members of the military were promoted in rank or joined the diplomatic service.

In fact, the Bangladeshi government assigned Din to be posted overseas as part of the diplomatic corp. and he traveled extensively, stationing in various countries such as Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Thailand and others. Throughout all this time, 20 years, Din honored his country as a diplomat with exemplary conduct and extreme dignity. He was Deputy Ambassador of Bangladesh in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War, and was the head of the Bangladeshi mission in Iraq from 1993 to 1996. His Iraq assignment was the equivalent of Ambassador.

But then the political winds shifted. In 1996, in Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, the surviving daughter of the president who was killed in 1975, came to power and promised “justice” [revenge] against anybody who was involved in the coup of ’75, regardless of their actual involvement, and regardless of the constitution that prohibited punishment against members in the military present during that ’75 coup. A double standard is apparent here as some high-ranking officials, involved in the ‘75 coup, are now part of Sheikh Hasina’s political party and therefore are still living in freedom in Bangladesh.

Din, along with several other men accused of the murder, was tried in absentia in 1996. Yes, it is true, that my father could have gone back to Bangladesh to try and defend himself but he knew he would not be safe and would not get a fair trial. I know it’s hard for Americans to understand but, sadly, my country is very corrupt and so poor that eyewitness testimony can be bought for as little as one hundred dollars. And when the trial is politically stacked against you even the defense lawyers are either biased against those whom they are charged with defending, or in danger for their advocacy. It was widely reported then that even a few members of the defense team who were strenuously defending the accused were publicly threatened by the Awami league, and agitated members of the public stripped and beat those lawyers in the courthouse.

Besides the false testimony supplied by paid witnesses, other witnesses could not recall, 20 years later, who was or who was not in the palace that dark night. In fact some witnesses claimed my father was in the palace but then realized that they were actually referring to a different man, with the same name as my father, but with a different rank. Various witnesses even recalled my father as being in more than one place at once.
Din was lawfully present in the United States when he applied for political asylum under the United Nations Torture Convention because his life and his family were in danger, given the unstable political situation back home. Meanwhile Sheikh Hasina dismissed all the judges assigned to the case of the ’75 coup and appointed her own judges de facto creating a kangaroo court which sentenced Din to be hanged.

Din then followed the bureaucratic path of political asylum under the immigration laws of the US, and under the United Nations Convention. Everything seemed to be proceeding well until 9/11. After that date, with the rapid passage of the Patriot Act and the creation of Homeland Security, my father was excluded from the protection granted by the immigration laws and the torture convention. During the ten year fight to stay in America my father never broke any laws in this country. He is a gentle and peaceful soul who has worked within the US courts system to fight deportation to a country known for torture and corruption.

Clearly my father is a scapegoat in a much larger political game in both the US and in Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina fanned the flames by calling Din a “terrorist”, knowing how much the American government dreads this term, to get Din extradited and finally hang him.

Sadly, my country of Bangladesh is currently in crisis once again. As recently as January 27 people have been killed in political riots and assassinations. It is a highly charged situation and my father has no hope in surviving upon his return. Even according to the most recent US State Department Report on Human Rights, Bangladesh is plagued by torture and political murders. Sheikh Hasina and her political party want revenge, without regard for the truth.

My father has no one to help him. He honorably served the military for nine years and as a diplomat for another 20 years, throughout eight successive administrations of Bangladesh governments. My father is not a terrorist and is guilty of nothing except trusting in a system blinded by politics.
If the US insists on deporting my father he will continue the fight in Bangladesh. He will face his accusers and reopen the case. Major political and military officials will be forced to take the stand and the truth will finally come out. I hope everyone, who is interested in the truth, will spread the word in Bangladesh that my father is ready for the fight. This is far from over. In fact it’s just began.

Rouben Mohiuddin
3/18/07