Tajul sought removal of Prosecutor Sultan in letter to law adviser in January

Immediate past Chief Prosecutor of International Crimes Tribunal Tajul Islam had written to the law adviser about one and a half months ago recommending the removal of ICT Prosecutor BM Sultan Mahmud.

In the letter, Tajul cited various allegations against Sultan, including handing over confidential prosecution office information to the defence without authorisation, breaching trust, discipline and code of conduct, assaulting a Supreme Court Bar security guard, and also domestic abuse.

Tajul confirmed to The Business Standard that he had sent the letter on 11 January to Asif Nazrul, law adviser to the former interim government. TBS has obtained a copy of the letter from the Ministry of Law.

Earlier on Monday (23 February), the day a new chief prosecutor was appointed, Sultan alleged on social media that Tajul had made former IGP Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun a state witness in exchange for financial benefits.

In the letter, Tajul alleged that Sultan had been supplying important and highly confidential tribunal information to various parties without the authorities' approval. He wrote that providing sensitive case information without authorisation from the Chief Prosecutor's Office was illegal and posed a serious security threat to ongoing investigations and judicial proceedings.

The letter also stated that Sultan verbally abused and physically assaulted security guard Md Main Uddin following a minor incident in the lift of the High Court annex building. Tajul alleged that four gunmen assigned to Sultan expressed their unwillingness to continue working with him, forcing authorities to reassign those gunmen. 

Tajul said such actions had severely damaged the image of the tribunal and the prosecution team.

In the removal request, Tajul further alleged that Sultan physically, mentally and socially abused his wife, and that she had filed a complaint.

For all these reasons, Tajul requested the removal of Sultan from the post of prosecutor. Along with the letter, he attached a complaint submitted by security guard Main Uddin to the chief prosecutor and a handwritten letter from Sultan's wife addressed to the chief prosecutor.

Denying the allegations, Sultan told the media, "They conspired against me because I could expose information about their corruption. They prepared these materials in advance so they could use them against me at the right time. If I had committed wrongdoing, they would have issued a show-cause notice or formal notice, but they did not."

Former law adviser Asif Nazrul could not be reached over phone.