Tulip Siddiq's aunt is charged with crimes against humanity in Bangladesh 'for her involvement in mass killings'
The aunt of Labour MP Tulip Siddiq has been charged with crimes against humanity for allegedly participating in mass killings during anti-government protests in Bangladesh.
Arrest warrants have been issued for both the ousted Bangladeshi prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, and former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan, who are understood to be in India. Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, former police chief, has been arrested.
It comes after Ms Hasina fled to India following student-led protests, which later became an anti-government uprising, saw the end of her 15-year rule in the South Asian state last August.
According to the UN, as many as 1,400 people are believed to have been killed during protests last Summer after her Awami League government clamped down on marchers in Dhaka.
Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) said the autocratic ruler 'directly' instructed state security forces, her party as well as its associates to implement actions that led to mass killings and injuries.
They also allege such operations saw targeted violence against women and children, wounded being denied medical treatment, and bodies being burnt.
In an investigative report last May, the 77-year-old was named as a 'mastermind, conductor and superior commander' of the brutalities against protesters.
The authoritarian leader provoked violence during a press conference at Ganabhaban on July 14, according to charges.
One of the charges says Ms Hasina reportedly ordered for protesters to be killed using, lethal weapons, helicopters, and drones.
Another alleges under similar instructions, officers shot and burned six unarmed protesters in the Bangladeshi capital on August 5, 2024.
Manynul Karim, the International Crimes Tribunal prosecutor, claimed to the Telegraph: 'Eyewitness testified that a young protester among them was burned alive after being shot and left wounded. He was still alive as the bodies burned.'
The charges part of a wider probe against Ms Hasina, whose premiership saw allegations of election-rigging to maintain her grip on the state, as well as accusations of human rights violations.
The alleged human rights violations facing the 77-year-old include torture, extensive arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial executions as well as enforced disappearances of adults and children.
'We have strong evidence, including telephonic conversations, that Hasina, under her superior command responsibility, ordered crimes against humanity, including murder of students,' Mr Karim told the publication.
'If proven guilty, she will face capital punishment. If she doesn't join the trial, it will be presumed that she is involved in the crimes against humanity, and the court might start a trial in absentia.'
Ms Hasina has not yet answered the charges placed against her, but if found guilty she could face a death sentence for the alleged crimes.
A diplomatic row is currently brewing between India and Bangladesh after India confirmed they had received communication regarding Ms Hasina's extradition but had declined to comment further.
It comes after the country's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has launched a larger probe into the reported illegal allocation of state-owned land and property by Ms Hasina to her children as well as family, which includes former Labour MP, Ms Siddiq.
The investigation also involves claims Ms Siddiq and four family members embezzled £4 billion through a nuclear powerplant deal struck with Russia,
Ms Siddiq resigned as City minister in January – after a corruption probe into her family had begun. Her family deny all the charges against them.
Earlier this year, her lawyers sent a letter to the ACC accusing it of launching 'targeted and baseless' investigations into her, claiming the corruption allegations against their client are 'false and vexatious.'
£90 million worth of properties tied to the ex Bangladeshi regime have since been frozen by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the UK.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
10 hours ago
- BBC News
Assam: 'I was pushed across the border into Bangladesh at gunpoint'
Shona Banu still shudders when she thinks of the past few 58-year-old, a resident of Barpeta district in India's north-eastern state of Assam, says that she was called to the local police station on 25 May and later taken to a point at the border with neighbouring Bangladesh. From there, she says, she and around 13 other people were forced to cross over to Bangladesh. She says she was not told why. But it was a scenario she had been dreading - Ms Banu says she has lived in Assam all her life but for the past few years, she has been desperately trying to prove that she is an Indian citizen and not an "illegal immigrant" from Bangladesh."They pushed me over at gunpoint. I spent two days without food or water in the middle of a field in knee-deep water teeming with mosquitoes and leeches," Ms Banu said, wiping away tears. After those two days in no man's land - between India and Bangladesh - she says she was taken to what appeared to be an old prison on the Bangladeshi two days there, she and a few others - she is not sure if all of them were from the same group sent with her - were escorted by Bangladeshi officials across the border, where Indian officials allegedly met them and sent them not clear why Ms Banu was abruptly sent to Bangladesh and then brought back. But her case is among a spate of recent instances where officials in Assam have rounded up people declared foreigners by tribunals in the past - on suspicion of being "illegal Bangladeshis" - and sent them across the border. The BBC found at least six cases where people said their family members had been picked up, taken to border towns and just "pushed across".Officials from India's Border Security Force, the Assam police and the state government did not respond to questions from the on alleged illegal immigrants from Bangladesh are not new in India - the countries are divided by a 4,096km (2,545 miles) long porous border which can make it relatively easy to cross over, even though many of the sensitive areas are heavily it's still rare, lawyers working on these cases say, for people to be picked up from their homes abruptly and forced into another country without due process. These efforts seem to have intensified over the past few weeks. The Indian government has not officially said how many people were sent across in the latest exercise. But top sources in the Bangladesh administration claim that India "illegally pushed in" more than 1,200 people into the country in May alone, not just from Assam but also other states. Out of this, they said on condition of anonymity, Bangladesh identified 100 people as Indian citizens and sent them a statement, the Border Guard Bangladesh said it had increased patrolling along the border to curb these attempts. India has not commented on these media reports indicate that the recent crackdown includes Rohingya Muslims living in other states too, the situation is particularly tense and complex in Assam, where issues of citizenship and ethnic identity have long dominated politics. The state, which shares a nearly 300km-long border with Muslim-majority Bangladesh, has seen waves of migration from the neighbouring country as people moved in search of opportunities or fled religious has sparked the anxieties of Assamese people, many of whom fear this is bringing in demographic change and taking away resources from Bharatiya Janata Party - in power in Assam and nationally - has repeatedly promised to end the problem of illegal immigration, making the state's National Register of Citizens (NRC) a priority in recent register is a list of people who can prove they came to Assam by 24 March 1971, the day before neighbouring Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan. The list went through several iterations, with people whose names were missing given chances to prove their Indian citizenship by showing official documents to quasi-judicial forums called Foreigners a chaotic process, the final draft published in 2019 excluded nearly two million residents of Assam - many of them were put in detention camps while others have appealed in higher courts against their exclusion. Ms Banu said her case is pending in the Supreme Court but that authorities still forced her to BBC heard similar stories from at least six others in Assam - all Muslims - who say their family members were sent to Bangladesh around the same time as Ms Banu, despite having necessary documents and living in India for generations. At least four of them have now come back home, with no answers still about why they were picked up.A third of Assam's 32 million residents are Muslims and many of them are descendants of immigrants who settled there during British Khatun, a 67-year-old from Assam's Barpeta who is still in Bangladesh, says she has temporarily been given shelter by a local family."I have no-one here," she laments. Her family has managed to speak to her but don't know if and when she can return. She lost her case in the foreigners' tribunal and in the state's high court and hadn't appealed in the Supreme after the recent round of action began, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma cited a February Supreme Court direction which ordered the government to start deportation proceedings for people who had been "declared foreigners" but were still held in detention centres."The people who are declared foreigners but haven't even appealed in court, we are pushing them back," Sarma said. He also claimed that people with pending court appeals were not being "troubled".But Abdur Razzaque Bhuyan, a lawyer working on many citizenship cases in Assam, alleged that in many of the recent instances, due process - which would, among other things, require India and Bangladesh to cooperate on the action - was not followed."What is happening is a wilful and deliberate misinterpretation of the court order," he Bhuyan recently filed a petition on behalf of a student organisation seeking the Supreme Court's intervention in stopping what they said was a "forceful and illegal pushback policy" but was asked to first approach the Assam high court. In Morigaon, around 167km from Barpeta, Rita Khatun sat near a table which had a pile of papers on husband Khairul Islam, a 51-year-old school teacher, was in the same group as Ms Banu that was allegedly picked up by authorities.A tribunal had declared him a foreigner in 2016, after which he spent two years in a detention centre before being released. Like Ms Banu, his case is also being heard in the Supreme Court."Every document is proof that my husband is Indian," Ms Khatun said, leafing through what she said was Mr Islam's high school graduation certificate and some land records. "But that wasn't enough to prove his nationality to authorities." She says her husband, his father and grandfather were all born in on 23 May, she says that policemen arrived at their home and took Mr Islam away without any was only a few days later - when a viral video surfaced of a Bangladeshi journalist interviewing Mr Islam in no man's land - that the family learnt where he Ms Banu, Mr Islam has now been sent back to India. While his family confirmed his return, the police told the BBC they had "no information" about his Begum says she is sure her father was declared a foreigner due to a case of mistaken identity - he was also taken on the same night as Mr Islam. "My father's name is Abdul Latif, my grandfather was Abdul Subhan. The notice that came [years ago, from the foreigners' tribunal] said Abdul Latif, son of Shukur Ali. That's not my grandfather, I don't even know him," Ms Begum said, adding that she had all the necessary documents to prove her father's family has now heard that Mr Latif is back in Assam, but he hasn't reached home some of these people are back home now, they fear they might be picked up again abruptly."We are not playthings," Ms Begum said. "These are human beings, you can't toss them around as per your whims."Additional reporting by Aamir Peerzada and Pritam Roy
Reuters
16 hours ago
- Reuters
Airbus procurement chief to move to India role, no successor named
PARIS, June 4 (Reuters) - The top supply chain executive at planemaker Airbus ( opens new tab, procurement chief Juergen Westermeier, has been appointed to run the group's operations in India and South Asia from Sept 1, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. His successor is "subject to further notice," the memo said. Airbus declined to comment on internal appointments. A person close to the company said the move was not linked to the recent supply chain situation which had in any case begun to stabilise.
Reuters
a day ago
- Reuters
India File: Turning military might into big business
(This was originally published in the India File newsletter, which is issued every Tuesday. Sign up here to get the latest news from India and how it matters to the world.) The deadly India-Pakistan conflict last month showcased the military might of the South Asian foes, putting on display their modern fighter jets, missiles and drones. For India, military modernisation is about more than just holding its own against neighbouring rivals, as it seeks military self-reliance and, eventually, a place among the world's big arms exporters. That's the focus of our analysis this week. And India's central bank meeting this week is expected to cut rates for a third time in a row despite strong growth in the January-March quarter. Scroll down to our "Market Matters" section for more on that. ** China's factory activity cools in May as US tariffs hit ** South Koreans vote for president in hope of restoring stability after martial law crisis ** Europe bristles at US proposals at Asian gathering ** TSMC says tariffs have some impact but AI demand robust ** Work on $1 bln Trump Tower in Vietnam could start next year India's defence production and purchases were already on a fast growth track before last month's armed conflict with Pakistan, as the government sought to modernise the military, ease equipment shortages and boost domestic manufacturing. Now that campaign has gone full throttle. Within days after the fighting, India approved $4.6 billion in emergency procurement funds to acquire more military equipment. It also moved ahead with plans for a stealth fighter jet and the procurement of up to $470 million worth of drones. Just weeks earlier it approved the purchase of 26 Rafale naval fighter jets worth $7 billion. The objectives are twofold: to expand India's military industrial base - and the manufacturing jobs and exports that go with it - and to ease its dependence on foreign arms suppliers, which could be a vulnerability in times of conflict. India already has the world's fourth-largest military and is the fifth-biggest spender on defence, as it steadily builds up defences against neighbours China and Pakistan while diversifying its forces beyond predominantly Soviet-era fighter jets and military equipment. It has also been the number-one importer of arms globally throughout the last decade, taking in an estimated 10% share. Recent purchases have included modern fighter jets from France, transport helicopters and planes from the U.S., an advanced air defence system and aircraft carrier from Russia, as well as missile systems, radar equipment and drones from Israel. Washington wants a further increase in military sales to New Delhi with President Donald Trump even offering F-35 stealth fighter jets, as defence cooperation takes a central role in deepening India-U.S. ties. In recent years, however, India has stressed manufacturing more defence equipment and platforms at home, with global firms pushed to produce in India - either on their own or in collaboration with domestic partners - while increasing their exports of India-made equipment. India had already been making plenty of its own weaponry, from fighter jets and helicopters to warships, submarines and missiles. Private-sector entrants, often working with foreign partners, have also brought fresh energy to a sector long dominated by less-nimble state firms that often delivered behind schedule. India's military exports - including missiles, missile-related systems, munitions, small aircraft, patrol vessels and electronics - jumped 12% in the fiscal year to March to $2.76 billion. Five years back, they totalled just $1.07 billion. But foreign competition is stiff, both from high-tech producers such as France, Israel and Russia, and from low-cost rivals such as China and Turkey. A May report by Jefferies said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's praise for how Indian equipment performed against Pakistan "points to further domestic manufacturing focus". The outlook for Indian defence firms, it added, looks bright with the rise in global military spending, up 9.4% in 2024 and the highest since the end of the Cold War. Europe could be a particularly good source of business as it considers sharply increasing defence spending while tensions mount with Washington. But there are challenges ahead. A KPMG report published last week listed budgetary constraints, red tape, dependence on imports and a shortage of skilled workers among the obstacles to growth in the arms sector. "Addressing these challenges requires strategic planning, increased budget allocations, streamlined procedures, robust policy frameworks, and fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration between the public and private sectors," the report said. Can India reduce its dependence on imports and become a major global defence supplier? Write to me at opens new tab Global makers of surveillance gear have clashed with Indian regulators over new security rules that require manufacturers of CCTV cameras to submit hardware, software and source code for assessment in government labs. The security-testing policy has sparked industry warnings of supply disruptions and added to a string of disputes between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration and foreign companies over regulatory issues and what some perceive as protectionism. Don't miss this report. Markets will be closely watching a meeting of the Reserve Bank of India's rate-setting panel on Friday after economic growth surpassed estimates in the January-March quarter. GDP growth hit 7.4% versus a year earlier but the central bank is still expected to cut rates for a third consecutive meeting, given subdued inflation that is expected to hold near the RBI's 4.0% target. Read here to catch up on growth in the January-March 2025 quarter and here for a Reuters poll on the expected outcome of the monetary policy review.
