Bangladesh to open trial of fugitive ex-PM
Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Sheikh Hasina's government launched a brutal campaign. PHOTO: REUTERS
DHAKA – Bangladesh will open on June 1 the trial of fugitive former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on charges of crimes against humanity related to the killings of protesters by police, prosecutors said.
Hasina, 77, fled by helicopter to her old ally India in August 2024 at the culmination of a student-led mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule, and has defied an extradition order to return to Dhaka.
'The prosecution team... is set to submit charges against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina,' said Mr Gazi M.H. Tamim, one of the prosecutors.
Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasina's government launched a brutal campaign to silence the protesters, according to the United Nations.
The domestic International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is prosecuting former senior figures connected to the ousted government of Hasina and her now-banned Awami League party.
The prosecution of senior figures from Hasina's government is a key demand of several of the political parties now jostling for power. The interim government has vowed to hold elections before June 2026.
The hearing is expected to be broadcast live on state-owned Bangladesh Television.
Prosecutors submitted their report into the case against Hasina in May, with the court on June 1 expected to open proceedings by issuing formal charges.
ICT chief prosecutor Tajul Islam said on May 12 that Hasina faces at least five charges, including 'abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising'.
Investigators have collected video footage, audio clips, Hasina's phone conversations, records of helicopter and drone movements, as well as statements from victims of the crackdown as part of their probe.
Hasina remains in self-imposed exile in India and has defied an arrest warrant and extradition orders from Dhaka to face trial in person.
She has rejected the charges as politically motivated.
The same case is also expected to include former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun. They face similar charges.
The ICT opened its first trial connected to the previous government on May 25. In that case, eight police officials face charges of crimes against humanity over the killing of six protesters on August 5, 2024, the day Hasina fled the country.
Four of the officers are in custody and four are being tried in absentia.
The ICT was set up by Hasina in 2009 to investigate crimes committed by the Pakistani army during Bangladesh's war for independence in 1971.
It sentenced many prominent political opponents to death and became widely seen as a means for Hasina to eliminate rivals. AFP
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Trump's Justice Department examining pardons issued by Biden
The investigation will look into whether Mr Joe Biden 'was competent and whether others were taking advantage of him through use of AutoPen or other means.' PHOTO: REUTERS WASHINGTON - A senior official in Republican US President Donald Trump's Justice Department told staff on June 2 that he has been directed to investigate clemency granted by Democrat Joe Biden in the waning days of his presidency to members of his family and death row inmates. Mr Ed Martin, the Justice Department's pardon attorney, wrote in an email seen by Reuters that the investigation involves whether Mr Biden 'was competent and whether others were taking advantage of him through use of AutoPen or other means.' An autopen is a device used to automatically affix a signature to a document. Mr Trump and his supporters have made a variety of unfounded claims that Mr Biden's use of the device while president invalidated his actions or suggested that he was not fully aware of these actions. It is not known whether Mr Biden used autopen on pardons. The email stated that Mr Martin's investigation is focused on preemptive pardons Mr Biden issued to several members of his family and clemency that spared 37 federal inmates from the death penalty, converting their sentences to life in prison. Just before he relinquished the presidency to Mr Trump on Jan 20, Mr Biden pardoned five members of his family, saying he wanted to protect them from future politically motivated investigations. The pardons went to Mr Biden's siblings Mr James Biden, Mr Frank Biden and Mrs Valerie Biden Owens as well as their spouses, Mr John Owens and Mrs Sara Biden. Mr Biden on Dec 1 pardoned his son Hunter Biden, who had pleaded guilty to tax violations and was convicted on firearms-related charges. Mr Martin's email did not specify which pardons of Mr Biden family members were being investigated. It also did not make clear who directed Mr Martin to launch the investigation. A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Mr Biden spokesperson did not immediately provide comment. The US Constitution gives the president broad power to issue pardons to wipe away federal criminal convictions or commutations to modify sentences. Mr Trump himself has made extensive use of executive clemency. For instance, he granted clemency on Jan 20 to all of the nearly 1,600 of his supporters who faced criminal charges in connection with the Jan 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, which was a failed attempt to prevent congressional certification of Mr Biden's 2020 election victory over Mr Trump. Mr Martin previously served as the interim US attorney in Washington before his nomination for that post foundered in the Senate. Mr Martin told reporters in May that he viewed the presidential pardon power as 'plenary,' meaning it is absolute. 'If you use the autopen for pardon power, I don't think that that's necessarily a problem,' Mr Martin said during a May 13 press conference, adding that he still felt the Biden pardons warranted scrutiny. The investigation appears designed to use the Justice Department to amplify questions about Mr Biden's health and mental acuity, a conversation that has intensified in recent weeks following his cancer diagnosis and a new book revealing Democratic concerns in 2024 about Mr Biden's condition. Mr Biden, who is 82, in 2024 dropped his reelection bid amid questions about his mental acuity after a disastrous presidential debate performance. Mr Biden was the oldest person to serve as US president, and Mr Trump is the second oldest. Mr Biden's closest aides have dismissed those concerns, saying Mr Biden was fully capable of making important decisions. No evidence has emerged to suggest that Mr Biden did not intend to issue the pardons. In addition, a Justice Department memo from 2005 found it was legitimate for a subordinate to use an autopen for the president's signature. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Harvard University asks judge for fast ruling in US funding freeze lawsuit
Judge Burroughs has temporarily blocked both the funding freeze and a US bar on letting Harvard enroll international students. PHOTO: REUTERS Harvard University lawyers urged a US federal judge to rule immediately that the Trump administration's freeze on US$2.2 billion (S$2.83 billion) in funding is illegal and that it violated the school's free speech and regulatory rights. In a court filing on June 2, Harvard argued that the US has not produced any evidence to show that the administration's freeze was a legally justified response to address anti-semitism and alleged liberal bias on campus. The school asked US District Judge Allison Burroughs to rule more quickly than she might in a typical lawsuit to reinstate Harvard's funding, a ruling also known as a summary judgment. 'The Government's rush to freeze and terminate billions of dollars in current and future federal funding to Harvard for critical research lacks the basic requisites of reasoned decision-making,' Harvard's lawyers wrote in a filing in Boston federal court. As the richest and oldest US university, Harvard has become the main target of US President Donald Trump's attempts to force schools to crack down on anti-semitism, remove perceived political bias and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes. Mr Trump also wants to cap Harvard's foreign student enrollment at 15 per cent, revoke its tax-exempt status and cancel its remaining federal contracts. Judge Burroughs has temporarily blocked both the funding freeze and a US bar on letting Harvard enroll international students, which is the subject of a separate lawsuit. BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Ukrainian strikes cut power to Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukrainian shelling and drone attacks triggered power cuts over swathes of Russian-controlled territory in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in the south of Ukraine, Russia-installed officials said early on Tuesday. Officials said there was no effect on operations at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station - Europe's largest nuclear facility which was seized by Russia in the weeks after Moscow's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Russian officials running the plant said radiation levels were normal at the facility, which operates in shutdown mode and produces no power at the moment. Russia-installed governors in the two regions said the Ukrainian attacks prompted authorities to introduce emergency measures and switch key sites to reserve power sources. Power was knocked out to all parts of Zaporizhzhia under Russian control, Russia-installed Governor Yevgeny Belitsky wrote on Telegram. "As a result of shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, high-voltage equipment was damaged in the northwestern part of the Zaporizhzhia region," Belitsky wrote. "There is no electricity throughout the region. The Energy Ministry of Zaporizhzhia region has been instructed to develop reserve sources of power. Health care sites have been transferred to reserve power sources." In adjacent Kherson region, farther west, Russia-appointed Governor Vladimir Saldo said debris from fallen drones had damaged two substations, knocking out power to more than 100,000 residents of 150 towns and villages in Russian-held areas. Emergency crews working to restore power quickly, he said. For many long months in the winter, it was Ukrainian towns and villages that endured repeated electricity cuts as Russian attacks focused strikes on generating capacity. Each side has repeatedly accused the other of launching attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and running the risk of a nuclear accident. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said last week in response to a Ukrainian complaint that it saw no sign that Russia was preparing to restart the Zaporizhzhia plant and connect it to the Russian grid. The IAEA has stationed monitors permanently at Zaporizhzhia and Ukraine's other nuclear power stations. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
