‘In-camera trial must in Burma fighter case’

The defence lawyers for the rebels now lodged in city’s Presidency jail, objected. The court will take a decision on whether the examination of the three defence personnel — Col. S.P.S. Mahi, Capt. Mohit Seth and Cdr. T Sunil Kumar — will be held in camera or not.

The question is what is the CBI trying to hide? "The CBI is trying to hide a lot," Siddhartha Aggarwal, one of the two defence lawyers said.

It was not the first time that such a move was made by the CBI. On December 15, apparently on the CBI pressure, the West Bengal government issued an order to this effect.

Eminent intellectuals like Ashok Mitra, Mahasweta Devi and Mrinal Sen wrote an open letter of protest to chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. On January 3, the state government withdrew its order and the trial again resumed in an open court.

Interestingly, the main reason, the government cited in support of its earlier order was to avoid exposing the 34 Burmese nationals to media while transporting them from jail to the court.

Denying the suggestion that the state government had bowed under the CBI pressure, the jail minister Biswanath Chowdhury said, "Following a Supreme Court order these prisoners were shifted from Andaman and Nicobar Islands to Kolkata. We have been directed to facilitate their trial proceedings.

We are merely following orders." In reply to another question as to why they were not given political prisoners status since they were freedom fighters, the minister said it was the Centre’s prerogative.

The CBI had earlier sought and got a court order banning the media’s entry into the trial.

Mr Aggarwal claimed that the case which the CBI had built had such huge gaping holes that the premier intelligence agency did not want them to be reported.

When the ministry of defence had for the first time made a public announcement of the case in a press conference, it had said that the Indian armed forces had intercepted "an international gang of armed smugglers" and seized arms and ammunition worth $1 million in Andaman and Nicobar Islands on February 8, 1998.

The operation was code-named Operation Leech. The security forces had arrested 73 foreign national and killed six in an encounter. The security forces had claimed that the arms and weapons were being supplied to the militants of the Northeast.

Scoffing at the defence forces’ claims, Dr Ashok Mitra said these poor people were freedom fighters and not terrorists as was being made out. "It is absurd that New Delhi which should help democracy flourish in the neighbourhood is trying to placate the military regime of Burma," he said.