Bangladesh’s army personnel stand guard at the International Crimes Tribunals premises in Dhaka. File
| Photo Credit: AFP

Bangladesh Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. File.
| Photo Credit: AP

Bangladesh’s International Criminal Tribunal (ICT) on Monday (January 6, 2025) issued arrest warrants against deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 11 others, including former military generals and a former police chief, for their alleged role in incidents of enforced disappearances.

Cost and benefit: On Bangladesh, India and Sheikh Hasina

This was the second arrest warrant by the ICT against Ms. Hasina, who fled to India after her Awami League regime’s toppling following unprecedented anti-government protests in August last year. The tribunal has so far recorded three cases against her.

“Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mojumdar, chairman of the tribunal, issued the arrest warrant after hearing a prosecution plea,” an ICT official said.

The Inspector General of Police was ordered to arrest the twelve people, including Ms. Hasina, and produce them before the tribunal on February 12 in the case filed over complaints of enforced disappearances of several hundred people.

The deposed premier’s then-defence adviser Major General (retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique and former IGP Benazir Ahmed are among those named in the case. While Mr. Siddique is currently under custody, Mr. Ahmed is believed to be on the run.

ICT Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam did not disclose the names of most of the accused “in the interest of investigations and their arrest”.

“The next hearing for this case is also scheduled for February 12. The tribunal has instructed that the investigation report be submitted on that day if completed,” Mr. Islam later told reporters.

He, however, said if the investigation report could not be submitted by then, the law enforcement agencies would have to provide a progress report on the arrests. Islam told the tribunal that the ousted regime had established a culture of enforced disappearances under state sponsorship.

The chief prosecutor alleged that those involved in carrying out these disappearances were rewarded. He added that agencies like the elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the police’s Detective Branch (DB), the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, and the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) were most frequently used for the purpose.

“Over the past 15 years, a culture of fear was established in Bangladesh through enforced disappearances and crossfires. Thousands of people were abducted by various forces, either in plainclothes or in uniform. Most of them never returned,” Islam told journalists.

Last month, Dhaka officially sought Hasina’s extradition from India. While New Delhi acknowledged the receipt of the letter, it refrained from commenting on it. The ICT issued the first arrest warrant against the ex-premier on October 17 on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the July-August protests and uprising.

After the fall of the Awami League government, at least 60 cases or complaints of enforced disappearances, killings, genocide, and crimes against humanity were lodged at the ICT, accusing Hasina, leaders of her party and its allies, and senior officials of different law enforcement agencies.

A commission formed by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’s interim government last month submitted its provisional report alleging the involvement of Hasina, her officials and neighbouring India in incidents of enforced disappearance.

The commission said it recorded 1,676 complaints of enforced disappearances and so far examined 758, of which 27% of the victims never returned.

Bangladesh will take necessary steps to extradite deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Bangladesh will take necessary steps to extradite deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from India to try her on charges of mass killings during the student-led mass movement against her government, the newly-appointed chief prosecutor of the country’s International Crimes Tribunal said on Sunday, September 8, 2024.

Following unprecedented anti-government protests that peaked on August 5, Ms. Hasina resigned as Prime Minister and fled to India.

Necessary steps will be taken to bring former Prime Minister Hasina back under the extradition treaty with India to try her on charges of mass killings during the student-led protests in July and August, International Crimes Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Md Tajul Islam was quoted as saying by The Daily Star newspaper.

“We will file an application with the International Crimes Tribunal, when it resumes functions, to issue arrest warrants against all the absconding accused including Sheikh Hasina in connection with the cases filed for mass killing and crimes against humanity,” he said at a press briefing on the ICT premises in Dhaka.

Replying to a question, he said a decision would be taken after consulting with the government about amendments to the existing International Crimes Tribunal Act for holding trial of the new cases filed with IT.

“Information, documents, and evidence against the accused persons will have to be collected from across the country and those will have to be compiled, examined, and placed properly before the tribunal, which is very much challenging and huge task,” Mr. Islam added.

Also Read: Sheikh Hasina looks at UAE, Saudi for asylum

According to the interim government’s Health Adviser Nurjahan Begum, more than 1,000 people have been killed and hundreds injured during the protests against the Hasina-led government.

Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) last month launched an investigation against Ms. Hasina and nine others on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity that took place from July 15 to August 5 during the students’ mass movement.

Mr. Islam said the International Crimes Tribunal and its investigation team will have to be reconstituted by appointing new judges and investigators as previous judges, prosecution team and investigation agency appointed by the previous government have stepped down after the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was formed in the country following the fall of the Hasina-led government.

Dhaka:

A fresh complaint was filed on Tuesday with Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal accusing deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 23 others of committing crimes against humanity and genocide during a rally by an Islamist group in May 2013.

Supreme Court lawyer Gazi MH Tamim filed the complaint on behalf of Mufti Harun Ijahar Chowdhury, joint secretary general (education and law) of Hefajat-e-Islam, The Daily Star newspaper reported.

“We registered the complaint, and thus the investigation has started from today,” Ataur Rahman, deputy director (admin) of the investigation agency, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

“Once we complete the preliminary investigation and visit the place of occurrence and the tribunal is reconstituted, we, through the prosecution, will seek arrest warrants against the accused,” he said.

The complaint accused Hasina and 23 others of committing crimes against humanity and genocide during a Hefajat-e-Islam rally at Motijheel’s Shapla Chattar on May 5, 2013.

This is the fourth complaint filed with the International Crimes Tribunal accusing the 76-year-old former premier, who resigned and fled to India on August 5 following massive protests against her government over a controversial quota system in government jobs.

Of the four, three cases are connected to the recent violence centring on the quota reform movement.

The other accused includes Awami League general secretary and former road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader, former minister Reshed Khan Menon, former mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, ex-advisor to prime minister Salman F Rahman, former security advisor to the prime minister Tarique Ahmed Siddique, former inspector general of police AKM Shahidul Haque, editor of ABnews24.com Subhash Singha Roy and former army chief Aziz Ahmed.

Besides them, some unnamed ministers, state ministers and lawmakers, unnamed individuals from law enforcement agencies and the then policymakers of some electronic and print media were accused.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday asked India to extradite Hasina to face trial as he accused her of plotting to thwart the country’s revolution.

Over 230 people were killed in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina-led Awami League government, taking the toll to more than 600 since the massive protest by students first started in mid-July.

An interim government was formed after the fall of the Hasina-led government, and 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was named its Chief Adviser.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as the Bangladesh’s head of the interim government.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Bangladesh’s interim government on Wednesday (August 14, 2024) said it will try those involved in the killings during the recent mass movement of the students against the Sheikh Hasina-led government in the International Crimes Tribunal.

“The interim government has taken preparations to investigate these incidents under the supervision of the United Nations (UN). The murders conducted within the period from July 1, 2024 to August 5, 2024 will be tried by the International Crimes Tribunal,” Law Adviser Dr. Asif Nazrul was quoted as saying by the state-run BSS news agency.

Also Read: Nearly 100 killed, hundreds injured in clashes between protesters and ruling party supporters

Over 230 people were killed in Bangladesh in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of Ms. Hasina government on August 5, 2024 taking the death toll to 560 during the three weeks of violence which originated from a students’ movement against a controversial quota system in jobs.

Also Read: Death toll climbs to 440 as army tries to bring situation under control

“We looked into the incidents of random firing and killings to find the fact whether there is the scope to prosecute it as a crime against humanity. We are working to try the July-August massacres under the International Criminal Tribunal Act 1973, (amended in 2009, and 2013). Under this Act, all those involved in the killings, those ordered them and those assisted them in various ways, can be brought to justice,” Dr. Nazrul said.

Stating that an investigation team will work under the full supervision of the United Nations to ensure complete transparency and impartiality, he said, “None of the outgoing government involved in the murder will be exempted.”

Speaking at a press conference in Dhaka, the adviser also said that the cases those are false and were filed to harass people during the movement will be withdrawn by tomorrow (August 15, 2024), and other remaining cases will be withdrawn by August 31, 2024.