Hard to catch

Khokon Razakar, handed down death penalty for war crimes in 1971, seems far off walking the gallows, as he remains holed up abroad.Although a prosecutor and an investigator claimed to have seen him in Sweden last year, the government said they do not have specific information on the whereabouts of the 70-year-old BNP leader, casting a shadow on the hopes of justice seekers.Even if his location in Sweden could be traced, it would not be easy to bring him back from the European country due to the absence of extradition treaty and the country's stance against deporting someone convicted of death, legal experts said.Meanwhile, victims' family members and Gonojagoron Mancha, a pro-liberation platform, yesterday urged the government to execute the verdict immediately after bringing the fugitive back to the country.The International Crimes Tribunal-1 yesterday sentenced Khokon to death as it found him guilty in mass killing and several other crimes committed in Faridpur during the Liberation War. Khokon was the fourth accused sentenced to death by war crimes tribunals after they were tried in absentia.

Sanaul Huq, a senior member of the investigation agency of the International Crimes Tribunal, told The Daily Star yesterday that Khokon fled to Sweden in 2011, and has been living there with his son and daughter since."I had seen him in Sweden when I visited there in July or August last year. He [Khokon] is living there openly and I had seen him gambling."Prosecutor Tureen Afroz said she had also seen Khokon in Sweden last December. Although Khokon has sought political asylum there, he has not been granted citizenship, she added.Dr Farhad Ali Khan, a member of the executive committee of Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, Sweden unit, told The Daily Star over the phone last night that they had boycotted a social programme held at Stockholm in July this year protesting Khokon's participation in the programme.Khokon was seen several times in the southern part of Stockholm in last few months, where his son and daughter live, he said.Farhad, also a vice-president of Sweden Awami League, said they have been working for the last two years to send Khokon back to Bangladesh. But after the death penalty, Sweden may not deport him to Bangladesh."In that case, we will intensify our efforts to hold his trial at Swedish war crimes tribunal," he said. He also urged the Bangladesh government's quick and effective diplomatic steps in this regard.About his repatriation, Tureen said it is very difficult to bring him back from Sweden as the European Union has abolished death sentence and naturally it wound not send a death row convict back.

She, however, said there are laws against any war criminals in Sweden and it could hold summery trial of Khokon upon receiving war crimes documents from Bangladesh."We have to convince them [Swedish government] that no war criminal should be allowed roaming around freely. To do so, strong diplomatic efforts are required," she added.But, Kamal Uddin Ahmed, chief of the monitoring cell responsible for overseeing the capture and return of fugitive war crimes convicts and accused, said they have no specific information about Khokon's location."We are trying to track him down with the assistance of Interpol, and if we can trace him, government to government level diplomatic process will be initiated to bring him back," he added.When he was given the information about Khokon's location in Sweden, he said, "We have to ascertain his specific location first." If Khokon lives in Sweden, it would be difficult to bring him back as Bangladesh does not have an extradition agreement with Sweden, he added.State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam also said they have no specific information about Khokon's whereabouts.If the home ministry gives them (foreign ministry) information about Khokon's whereabouts, the foreign mission of the specific country will carry out rigorous manhunt to trace him, he told The Daily Star.The three-member tribunal led by Justice M Enayetur Rahim asked the authorities concerned to transmit the conviction warrant to Inspector General of Police and District Magistrate of Dhaka and his native district Faridpur for necessary action and compliance.Earlier, Tribunal-2 awarded death penalty to Al-Badr leaders Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan for intellectual killings and former Jamaat-e-Islami member Abul Kalam Azad for wartime crimes.Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman are living in the UK and the USA respectively, but they could not be repatriated mainly due to the same reasons as in Sweden, sources said.Location of Azad is yet to be confirmed, they added.