Bangladesh's tribunal indicts deposed PM Hasina over killing of protesters

Dhaka: A special tribunal in Bangladesh on Thursday indicted deposed premier Sheikh Hasina in absentia on charges of crimes against humanity in connection with a deadly crackdown on protesters during the July-August uprising last year.

The International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh (ICT-BD) has set August 3 as the date for the trial.

The tribunal has "framed the charge against her (Hasina) alongside the home minister of her regime Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and (the then) inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun,” a prosecution lawyer told reporters.

The ICT bench, headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, passed the order after rejecting a defence plea to dismiss the charges. The other two members of the tribunal are Justices Md Shofiul Alam Mahmood and Md Mohitul Haq Enam Chowdhury.

The prosecutors said Hasina along with the co-accused was indicted on five charges, including mass killings, murder, and torture to tame the protestors during last year's July-August uprising.

If proven guilty, the accused could face the death penalty.

According to a UN rights office report, up to 1,400 people were killed between July 15 and August 15 last year as Hasina's government ordered a security crackdown on protesters.

With Thursday's order, the formal trial against 72-year-old Hasina and other defendants in the case for crimes against humanity has begun for the first time.

Hasina faces multiple cases in Bangladesh after being ousted on August 5 last year following a mass student-led agitation in the country, which forced her to flee Dhaka.

Mamun, the only accused appearing in person, pleaded guilty when produced before the tribunal from custody, prosecutors added.

During the indictment hearing, the former police chief expressed his willingness to make a statement in the prosecution’s favour at a later stage. The presiding judge said the tribunal would later decide whether to treat him as an "approver".

Mamun’s lawyer told journalists that the ex-police chief agreed to become a state witness, confessing his role during the violent movement.

The ICT-BD’s investigation agency on May 12 filed its report in the case, bringing five charges against the trio.

The prosecution said the charges include the delivery of a provocative speech by Hasina at a press briefing on July 14, 2024, issuing a directive to eliminate the July Movement protesters with the use of helicopters, drones, and lethal weapons by law enforcement agencies.

The three were also accused of issuing directives to law enforcers, collaborating with the Awami League and plotting to kill innocent students and people on August 5 last year in Dhaka's Chankharpul and Ashulia areas as part of a broader plan to eliminate the protesters to suppress the movement.

The ICT-BD was originally formed during the Awami League regime in 2010 to try the hardened collaborators of Pakistani troops during Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War on charges of crimes against humanity.

Muhammad Yunus’s interim government decided to try Hasina in the same court on identical charges.