Bangladesh Tribunal indicts former PM Hasina for mass murder, issues fresh arrest warrant
In a historic and highly charged legal development, Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on Sunday indicted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is currently in self-imposed exile in India, on charges including mass murder related to the violent suppression of last year's student-led protests.
The tribunal, comprising a three-judge bench, accepted the charges against Hasina and two others—former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and ex-Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun. While Mamun is currently in custody and will be tried in person, both Hasina and Kamal will be tried in absentia. The court also issued a fresh arrest warrant for Hasina and Kamal.
According to the prosecution, Hasina exercised "absolute authority" in ordering the brutal crackdown on demonstrators, resulting in significant casualties. The other two accused were charged with instigating, facilitating, and abetting the violent response. All three face allegations under the doctrine of "superior command responsibility."
Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam went a step further, urging the court to declare Hasina's political party, the Awami League, a criminal organization, citing the partisan nature of the alleged crimes.
If convicted under ICT-BD law, the accused could face the death penalty.
Sunday's hearing marked the formal start of Hasina's trial in absentia, coming nearly 10 months after her government was toppled on August 5, 2024, following weeks of nationwide unrest.
The tribunal proceedings were broadcast live for the first time in Bangladesh's history. However, tensions ran high as three crude bombs were hurled at the court premises hours before the trial. Two of them exploded while the third was defused. No injuries were reported, and police are reviewing CCTV footage to identify the culprits.
The UN Human Rights Office previously reported that approximately 1,400 people were killed in the span of a month during the protests between July 15 and August 15, 2024, which included both civilians and security personnel.
Hasina has dismissed the charges as politically motivated. The Bangladesh government has requested her extradition from India through diplomatic channels, but New Delhi has so far remained silent, only confirming receipt of the note.
Most top leaders of the former Awami League administration are already in custody, facing similar charges related to the deadly protests that triggered a regime change in Bangladesh.
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Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Visa syndicate with ISI links? Punjab men rescued from Iran after kidnapping, families paid ransom
CHANDIGARH: Three men from Punjab trying to get to Australia illegally were 'rescued' on Wednesday by local police in Iran where they had landed 'on the way' and had been kidnapped. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Back home in Punjab, police have found that middlemen (sub-agents) brothers, Dheeraj Atwal and Kamal Atwal, had befooled the three men with an appealing deal to Australia, sweetened by a Jalandhar-based 'guarantor' and a 10-rupee note guarantee promising the clients' families that the Delhi-based main agent would be paid only after they reached Australia. The rescued men are Amritpal Singh from Hoshiarpur district, Husanpreet Singh from Dhuri in Sangrur district and Jaspal Singh from Langroa in Nawanshahr district. The Embassy of India in Iran on Wednesday said in a post on X, that they were now under the care of the embassy of India, which is facilitating their early repatriation. Police have now booked the 'guarantor', Sukhwinder Kumar. He is absconding along with Dheeraj and Kamal, and the duo's alleged associate Savita Soya, who has also been named in the FIR registered under sections of BNS and Punjab Travel Professionals (Regulation) Act at Hoshiarpur's Model Town police station. Two related FIRs have also been registered by Sangrur and Nawanshahr police, the hometowns of two other victims. The letterhead of the 'guarantor' having a office in Grand Mall, BMC Chowk, Jalandhar on which the 'documentation' of 'guarantee amount' was done before the three 'left for Australia' reads: 'BRBConsultant– Where Dream Become Realty [sic] – Deals in All Types of Visa Filling (sic) Services'. Only, in this case, their dreams turned into a nightmare, and their families went through the ordeal of losing money and seeing the trio being thrashed in captivity on a video call. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now As per the 'guarantee documents', typed in Punjabi, the money was deposited with BRBConsultant by Dheeraj and Kamal on behalf of their 'clients' and 'token' numbers written on Rs 10 notes were issued. 'One part of the token is with me and another part will be with the agent who has promised to send [the men] abroad. I will give my part of token to the agent once the work is done (the men reach Australia) and the agent can collect the (guarantee) money from the office. And if for some reason, the agent does not send my man (read client) abroad, I will bring back the part of token with the agent and will take back the guarantee amount after depositing both tokens in the office,' reads the undertaking by the middlemen in the guarantee paper, which comes with a 'note' that a message had to be sent in either scenarios two days before taking the guarantee money from the office. The guarantee papers have been signed by the Atwal brothers in the presence of 'a witness'andonbehalf of BRB Consultant, by Sameer Ahuja. Hoshiarpur deputy superintendent of police (detective) Sukhninder Singh, who is investigating the FIR registered in Hoshiarpur, told TOI on Wednesday, 'The real name of the person who took the guarantee amount is Sukhwinder Kumar. We have named him in the FIR and he is suspect it is a wider racket. The investigations so far have pointed towards clear complicity of Sukhwinder.' As per the complaint made by Husanpreet's mother Balwinder Kaur, the abductors asked her son and the other two men to make video calls from their WhatsApp numbers, beat them and demanded Rs 2 crore. 'Now, they are demanding Rs 54 lakh to release the three,' reads the complaint, adding that they were asking that the amount be deposited in 'a Pakistan account of Ghazanfar Ali'. The complaint further reads, 'We all families are very upset because they are doing third degree torture by making video calls. .. The entire syndicate is working with Pakistani ISI and we are being asked to deposit money in Pakistani accounts'. The complaint also mentions a Delhi-based 'main agent Suresh', along with Atwal brothers, Sameer Ahuja alias Bunty and a woman of Rama Mandi in Jalandhar, who the complaint says, 'is Pakistani ISI agent'. It further reads, 'Ina planned conspiracy, they got my son and other two Jaspal Singh and Amritpal Singh abducted from outside Iran airport on May 1 through Pakistani ISI agents.' Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said, 'We will probe the case from all angles including the ISI agents allegations.' Balwinder Kaur's complaint mentioned that Husanpreet had completed 10+2 (medical), got '7.5 bands in IELTS, but for some reasons could not get visa'. She stated that around over 1.5 years ago, Husanpreet got in touch with the travel agents and unsuccessfully tried to go to Croatia for Rs 7 lakh. Sometime back, they offered to send him directly to Australia on a five-year work permit for Rs 18 lakh, which they said would be paid on his reaching Australia. ' As per the complaint, theagents got an air ticket to Australia issued and cancelled twice before sending him to Dubai and to Iran on a flight onwards. As per the FIR registered at Model Town police station in Hoshiarpur, Amritpal's mother Gurdeep Kaur also said that after cancellation of air tickets to Australia twice, the agents sent Amritpal and Husanpreet to Iran via Dubai, promising that they would fly to Australia from Iran on May 3. She said initially Amritpal called her nephew to inform that they had reached Iran safely, but later said they were stuck in Iran, with their captors claiming they had a monetary issue to settle with the agents. The families claimed that before sending the trio to Iran, the agents sent them copies of 'Australian visa', which they now believe were fake.
Indian Express
5 hours ago
- Indian Express
To truly break with the past, Bangladesh needs robust institutions, not vendetta
Until a few months ago, it seemed as if the goodwill commanded by the interim government of Bangladesh headed by Muhammad Yunus — the product of an agreement between the major political parties, the army, and student leaders — would be enough for it to carry out its ambitious reform agenda. But while the reform efforts are still on, the banning of the Awami League and the onset of the absentee trial of the ousted leader, Sheikh Hasina, have produced an unsettling sense that we are witnessing what commentator Taqbir Huda calls 'the perverse circularity of revenge politics in Bangladesh'. This is not the best of circumstances for external players to actively support the accountability and reform objectives of the interim government. In February 2025, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released a fact-finding report on the purported abuses and violations of human rights that took place during the massive protests in Bangladesh from July 1 to August 15, 2024. In the team's assessment, up to 1,400 people could have died during the protests, with military rifles and shotguns loaded with deadly metal pellets — common weapons used by Bangladesh's security forces — killing the majority of them. The UN human rights office, says the report, 'has reasonable grounds to believe that these violations were carried out with the knowledge, coordination and direction of the political leadership and senior security sector officials, in pursuance of a strategy to suppress the protests and related expressions of dissent'. Despite its name, the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), which is holding Hasina's absentee trial, is a domestic court. It will be an understatement to say that the conduct of a legal proceeding in absentia is controversial under most circumstances (including in the case of India's foreigners' tribunals). Article 63 of the Rome Statute that set up the International Criminal Court — of which Bangladesh is a state party — states quite unambiguously that 'the accused shall be present during the trial'. But the fact that Hasina's trial would be in her absence doesn't seem to greatly concern its backers. In response to a reporter's queries, as far back as December 2024, the special adviser to the tribunal's chief prosecutor said, rather nonchalantly, 'I don't know what India will do about Sheikh Hasina's return to Bangladesh. But if India does not have her return here, her trial will continue in her absence.' The UN fact-finding report notes that the interim government is committed to holding those responsible for the serious violations accountable, and that it has concentrated its resources on bringing criminal cases before the ICT as quickly as possible. But it says that several interlocutors, including some human rights defenders and public interest attorneys, have voiced concerns about the ICT's contentious history and its legal structure, and are sceptical of its ability to conduct truly independent, fair, and effective proceedings. The interim government has since approved amendments to the ICT Act to address several issues regarding due process and fair trials raised by the UN human rights office and others. However, the revisions, says the UN report, addressed some but not all those issues. It specifically notes the continued absence of the fair trial protections required for proceedings in absentia. The banning of the Awami League, which happened after the UN report was released, raises additional issues about Sheikh Hasina's right to due process and a fair trial. In view of the speed with which the interim government is proceeding to try Bangladesh's ousted leader, it may be worth reflecting on the question of time and the pursuit of justice. While there is a lot to be said for the adage that justice delayed is justice denied, there are situations when new opportunities for justice become available with the passage of time. For instance, it is not unusual for familiar barriers to justice, such as the power and influence of people committing breaches, to weaken and disappear over time. There are good reasons for why war crimes, and crimes against humanity — whether committed in time of war or in time of peace — are not subject to any statutory limitation. The Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk, who worked as a Nazi camp-guard and immigrated to the United States in 1952, was finally convicted and sentenced to five years in prison by a Munich court in 2011 — nearly eight decades after the Holocaust. The UN fact-finding report includes an important observation about Bangladeshi politics, that its 'political parties have been historically dominated by individual leaders who pursued politics of patronage and sought to weaponise the political system against their opponents'. The adverse effects of such practices, however, were tempered so long as people were able to regularly vote the ruling party out of power. This was possible because of 'a constitutional system of temporary caretaker governments that would seek to level the playing field before a new round of elections'. Unfortunately, following its victory in the 2008 election, the Awami League eliminated this institution. Many observers of Bangladeshi politics recognise the caretaker arrangement as an important institutional innovation in the country's constitutional history. Thankfully, the report of the constitution reform commission appointed by the interim government includes the recommendation of 'the appointment of an election-time interim government after the end of the term of the Parliament or, if the Parliament is dissolved, until the next elected government is sworn in'. There is no denying that many of Bangladesh's institutions require reforms. But there are valid concerns about whether an unelected interim government has the authority to carry out all the reforms that Yunus and his colleagues would like to make. Reinstating the institution of the caretaker government, and establishing robust constitutional safeguards for it, could serve as a significant legacy for Yunus and the government he heads. The writer is professor emeritus of Political Studies at Bard College, New York
Time of India
8 hours ago
- Time of India
Punjab to ‘Oz via Iran': Agents banked on 10-note ‘guarantee' to take in trio
Chandigarh: Three men from Punjab trying to get to Australia were "rescued" on Wednesday by local police in Iran where they had landed "on the way" and had been kidnapped. Back home in Punjab, police have found that middlemen (sub-agents) brothers, Dheeraj Atwal and Kamal Atwal, had befooled the three men with an appealing deal to Australia, sweetened by a Jalandhar-based "guarantor" and a 10-rupee note guarantee promising the clients' families that the Delhi-based main agent would be paid only after they reached Australia. The rescued men are Amritpal Singh from Hoshiarpur district, Husanpreet Singh from Dhuri in Sangrur district and Jaspal Singh from Langroa in Nawanshahr district. The Embassy of India in Iran on Wednesday said in a post on X that they were now under their care and they are facilitating their early repatriation. Police have also booked the 'guarantor', Sukhwinder Kumar. He is absconding along with Dheeraj and Kamal, and the duo's alleged associate Savita Soya, who has also been named in the FIR registered under sections of BNS and Punjab Travel Professionals (Regulation) Act at Hoshiarpur's Model Town police station. Two related FIRs have also been registered by Sangrur and Nawanshahr police, the hometowns of two other victims. The letterhead of the "guarantor' having a office in Grand Mall, BMC Chowk, Jalandhar on which the 'documentation' of 'guarantee amount' was done before the three 'left for Australia' reads: "B R B Consultant – Where Dream Become Realty [sic] – Deals in All Types of Visa Filling (sic) Services".Only, in this case, their dreams turned into a nightmare, and their families went through the ordeal of losing money and seeing the trio being thrashed in captivity on a video call. As per the 'guarantee documents', typed in Punjabi, the money was deposited with B R B Consultant by Dheeraj and Kamal on behalf of their 'clients' and 'token' numbers written on Rs 10 notes were issued. "One part of the token is with me and another part will be with the agent who has promised to send [the men] abroad. I will give my part of token to the agent once the work is done (the men reach Australia) and the agent can collect the (guarantee) money from the office. And if for some reason, the agent does not send my man (read client) abroad, I will bring back the part of token with the agent and will take back the guarantee amount after depositing both tokens in the office," reads the undertaking by the middlemen in the guarantee paper, which comes with a "note" that a message had to be sent in either scenarios two days before taking the guarantee money from the office. The guarantee papers have been signed by the Atwal brothers in the presence of "a witness" and on behalf of B R B Consultant, by Sameer Ahuja. Hoshiarpur deputy superintendent of police (detective) Sukhninder Singh, who is investigating the FIR registered in Hoshiarpur, told TOI on Wednesday, "The real name of the person who took the guarantee amount is Sukhwinder Kumar. We have named him in the FIR and he is suspect it is a wider racket. The investigations so far have pointed towards clear complicity of Sukhwinder." As per the complaint made by Husanpreet's mother Balwinder Kaur, the abductors asked her son and the other two men to make video calls from their WhatsApp numbers, beat them and demanded Rs 2 crore. "Now, they are demanding Rs 54 lakh to release the three," reads the complaint, adding that they were asking that the amount be deposited in "a Pakistan account of Ghazanfar Ali". The complaint further reads, "We all families are very upset because they are doing third degree torture by making video calls. .. The entire syndicate is working with Pakistani ISI and we are being asked to deposit money in Pakistani accounts". The complaint also mentions a Delhi-based "main agent Suresh", along with Atwal brothers, Sameer Ahuja alias Bunty and a woman of Rama Mandi in Jalandhar, who the complaint says, "is Pakistani ISI agent". It further reads, "In a planned conspiracy, they got my son and other two Jaspal Singh and Amritpal Singh abducted from outside Iran airport on May 1 through Pakistani ISI agents." Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said, "We will probe the case from all angles including the ISI agents allegations." Balwinder Kaur's complaint mentioned that Husanpreet had completed 10+2 (medical), got '7.5 bands in IELTS, but for some reasons could not get visa'. She stated that around over 1.5 years ago, Husanpreet got in touch with the travel agents and unsuccessfully tried to go to Croatia for Rs 7 lakh. Sometime back, they offered to send him directly to Australia on a five-year work permit for Rs 18 lakh, which they said would be paid on his reaching Australia. " As per the complaint, the agents got an air ticket to Australia issued and cancelled twice before sending him to Dubai and to Iran on a flight onwards. As per the FIR registered at Model Town police station in Hoshiarpur, Amritpal's mother Gurdeep Kaur also said that after cancellation of air tickets to Australia twice, the agents sent Amritpal and Husanpreet to Iran via Dubai, promising that they would fly to Australia from Iran on May 3. She said initially Amritpal called his nephew to inform that they had reached Iran safely, but later said they were stuck in Iran, with their captors claiming they had a monetary issue to settle with the agents.
