Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina charged with crimes against humanity
Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been charged in the country's International Crimes Tribunal with crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the protests against her government in July and August, the Dhaka Tribune reported on Sunday.
Hasina has been charged with having instigated mass killings during protests against her Awami League government.
Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam, who filed the charges before the tribunal, said that the violence against the protestors at the time was a 'coordinated, widespread and systematic attack', Al-Jazeera reported.
'The accused unleashed all law enforcement agencies and her armed party members to crush the uprising,' the prosecutor said.
On February 12, a United Nations report on the violence said that the Hasina government, the country's security and intelligence services and 'violent elements' associated with the Awami League party 'systematically engaged in a range of serious human rights violations' during the agitation in July and August.
Of the 1,400 killed and thousands injured between July 1 and August 15, the vast majority were shot by Bangladesh's security forces, the report said. Of these, 12% to 13% killed were children.
Hasina was ousted from power and fled to India on August 5 amid widespread student-led protests against her Awami League government. She had been the prime minister of Bangladesh for 16 years.
Nobel laureate economist Muhammad Yunus took over as the head of Bangladesh's interim government on August 8. Since then, a total of 51 cases have been filed against Hasina, including 42 for murder. Two warrants for her arrest have also been issued.
On May 10, Bangladesh banned all activities of the Awami League, including its online platforms, under the country's anti-terrorism act.
Hasina has denied the allegations against her and claimed that she is being politically persecuted.
In December, the interim government said that it had sent a note verbale, or an unsigned diplomatic communique, to India formally seeking Hasina's extradition. India confirmed receiving the note verbale from the Bangladesh High Commission.
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