Economist magazine faces contempt in Bangladesh over war crime tribunal

December 10, 2012 - A Bangladesh war crimes tribunal has accused the British magazine The Economist of hacking the computer of its presiding judge to record conversations and read emails he exchanged with a lawyer. The magazine did not directly address the charges, but said it was in possession of conversations and documents that raised serious questions about the workings of the tribunal. The tribunal is trying 10 opposition politicians on charges of arson, rape and other atrocities committed during the country's 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. Bangladesh says that during the war, Pakistani troops, aided by their local collaborators, killed 3 million people and raped about 200,000 women. International human rights groups, including New York-based Human Rights Watch, have called for fair and impartial proceedings and raised questions about how the tribunal is being conducted. New York-based Human Rights Watch has complained about flaws in the tribunal and expressed concern about a police raid on defence lawyers and the disappearance of a witness at the courthouse gates who had reportedly been preparing to testify for the defence.