More trouble for Sheikh Hasina as anti-India Yunus regime indicts former PM on mass murder charges, tribunal says she ordered…
In mounting legal troubles for former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the International Crimes Tribunal Bangladesh (ICT-BD) Sunday indicted the deposed leader on a host of serious charges, including mass murder, for allegedly violating the brutal crackdown on student-led protest that ultimately led to her ouster in August last year.
Proceedings broadcasted live on state TV
Sunday’s proceedings, which were broadcast live on Bangladesh’s state-run BTV– a first in the country’s history– marked the start of Hasina’s trial in absentia, nearly 10 months after her Awami League government was ouster from power.
The proceedings were scheduled to begin at 9.30 am but were slightly delayed as unidentified people hurled three crude bombs at the gate of the tribunal hours before the beginning of the trial. Police said two of the bombs exploded while the third was defused while they were trying to identify and arrest the miscreants, examining CCTV footage, PTI reported.
The three-judge ICT-BD bench led by Justice Golam Mortuza Majumdar took cognizance of charges against Sheikh Hasina, her home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who is already in custody and will stand trial.
The ICT-BD bench also issued fresh arrest warrants against Hasina and Kamal after the prosecution submitted a 145-page excerpt of formal charges against the former rulers, accusing them of attempting to tame the protests using brutal force.
Sheikh Hasina, others charged with mass murder
The prosecution has charged Sheikh Hasina with exercising absolute authority to ruthlessly suppress the student uprising, while the two other accused were charged with provocation, complicity, abetment, instigation and facilitation. “Upon reviewing the evidence, we concluded that it was a coordinated, widespread and systematic attack,” ICT-BD chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam told the court.
All three were accused of superior command responsibility for the crimes, and prosecution said it would submit video, audio, and forensic evidence during the trial and listed 81 people to appear as witnesses.
‘Hasina ordered the killings’
In its report, submitted to the chief prosecutor’s office on May 12, tribunal’s investigation agency had named Sheikh Hasina as the instigator of the killings during the student uprising, claiming that the former PM had ordered the use of deadly force against student protesters.
Following the report, the chief prosecutor urged the court to treat the Awami League as a criminal organisation since the crimes were committed on a partisan basis. Last month, the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government ordered the disbanding of the party until the trials of its leaders were completed.
Sheikh Hasina and the co-accused face the death penalty if convicted under the ICT-BD law.
Sheikh Hasina’s ouster
On August 5 2024, the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime was ousted from power after mass student protests led by the Students against Discrimination (SAD). Three days later, an Interim Government came to power in Dhaka with Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus at his helm as Chief Advisor.
Hasina fled to India, while most leaders and officials of her Awami League party and government, were arrested to face serious charges like mass murder, genocide, corruption, among others, primarily to calm the protests who demanded strict action against the Hasina regime for allegedly killing hundreds, including civilians during the protest.
According to a UN rights office report some 1,400 people were killed between July 15 and August 15 last year as violence continued even after the fall of the past regime.
(With PTI inputs)
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