Latest news with #AsaduzzamanKhan
The Guardian
11-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Bangladesh's ousted Sheikh Hasina charged with crimes against humanity
Bangladesh's ousted leader Sheikh Hasina has been formally charged with crimes against humanity after being accused of ordering a deadly crackdown against anti-government protests last year that left more than 1,400 people dead. Hasina, who fled the country on 5 August last year, was charged in absentia by a three-judge panel on Thursday. She remains in hiding in neighbouring India and has ignored formal requests for her to return. Bangladeshi prosecutors have spent months gathering evidence to bring Hasina to trial for alleged crimes committed during her 15 years in power, including the mass killing of students who rose up against her authoritarian regime in July last year. The panel, called the international crimes tribunal, indicted Hasina, her former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan and the former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah al-Mamun on five charges, including crimes against humanity. Prosecutors allege that Hasina was the 'mastermind, conductor and superior commander' of the targeted violence against student-led protests that erupted across Bangladesh and eventually led to the fall of her government. As widely documented by human rights groups, the police fired live ammunition at protesters across the country, leading to mass casualties, and arbitrarily arrested tens of thousands of civilians in an attempt to crush the uprising. Lawyers have argued that orders for the killings came directly from Hasina, citing leaked audio files and other documents left behind when she fled the country in a helicopter. Hasina's Awami League party condemned the indictment and described the tribunal as a kangaroo court, despite Hasina having established it in 2009 to investigate crimes committed during the 1971 Bangladesh war of independence. 'We condemn in strongest term the indictment against our party president and other leaders as we assert that this step marks another testament to the ongoing witch hunt against our party,' the party wrote on X. The tribunal has already issued three arrest warrants for Hasina. It also sentenced her to six months in jail earlier this month for contempt of court after a leaked audio recording emerged of her saying: 'There are 227 cases against me, so I now have a licence to kill 227 people.' Hasina's trial for crimes against humanity charges will begin on 3 August. Prosecutors said al-Mamun had already pleaded guilty and had agreed to testify as a state witness against his accomplices. It remains unclear whether Hasina will be forcibly brought back to Bangladesh to face the mounting accusations against her, including widespread corruption. The interim government, led Mohammad Yunus, confirmed it had sent India several extradition requests, but that they had so far been ignored. Yunus's government has expressed repeated frustration at India for continuing to give Hasina – who was closely allied to Delhi while in power – a safe haven and allowing her to make 'false statements' intended to destabilise the country. Yunus has pledged that Bangladesh will have its first election since Hasina's fall by April 2026, but the Awami League has been banned from taking part.
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Bangladesh's ousted Sheikh Hasina charged with crimes against humanity
Bangladesh's ousted leader Sheikh Hasina has been formally charged with crimes against humanity after being accused of ordering a deadly crackdown against anti-government protests last year that left more than 1,400 people dead. Hasina, who fled the country on 5 August last year, was charged in absentia by a three-judge panel on Thursday. She remains in hiding in neighbouring India and has ignored formal requests for her to return. Bangladeshi prosecutors have spent months gathering evidence to bring Hasina to trial for alleged crimes committed during her 15 years in power, including the mass killing of students who rose up against her authoritarian regime in July last year. The panel, called the international crimes tribunal, indicted Hasina, her former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan and the former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah al-Mamun, on five charges, including crimes against humanity. Prosecutors allege that Hasina was the 'mastermind, conductor and superior commander' of the targeted violence against student-led protests that erupted across Bangladesh and eventually led to the fall of her government. As widely documented by human rights groups, the police fired live ammunition at protesters across the country, leading to mass casualties, and arbitrarily arrested tens of thousands of civilians as they tried to crush the uprising. Lawyers have argued that orders for the killings came directly from Hasina, citing leaked audio files and other documents left behind when she fled the country in a helicopter. Hasina's Awami League party condemned the indictment and described the tribunal as a kangaroo court, despite Hasina having established it in 2009 to investigate crimes committed during the 1971 Bangladesh war of independence. 'We condemn in strongest term the indictment against our party president and other leaders as we assert that this step marks another testament to the ongoing witch hunt against our party,' the party wrote on X. The tribunal has already issued three arrest warrants for Hasina. It also sentenced her to six months in jail earlier this month for contempt of court after a leaked audio recording emerged of her saying: 'There are 227 cases against me, so I now have a license to kill 227 people.' Hasina's trial for crimes against humanity charges will begin on 3 August. Prosecutors said al-Mamun had already pleaded guilty and had agreed to testify as a state witness against his accomplices. It remains unclear whether Hasina will be forcibly brought back to Bangladesh to face the mounting accusations against her, including widespread corruption. The interim government, led Mohammad Yunus, confirmed it had sent India several extradition requests, but that they had so far been ignored. Yunus's government has expressed repeated frustration at India for continuing to give Hasina – who was closely allied to Delhi while in power – a safe haven and allowing her to make 'false statements' intended to destabilise the country. Yunus has pledged that Bangladesh will have its first election since Hasina's fall by April 2026, but the Awami League has been banned from taking part.
CBC
10-07-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Bangladesh tribunal indicts former leader Sheikh Hasina over protester deaths
Social Sharing A special tribunal indicted Bangladesh's ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday by accepting charges of crimes against humanity filed against her in connection with a mass uprising in which hundreds of students were killed last year. A three-member panel, headed by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, indicted Hasina, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun on five charges. Hasina and Khan are being tried in absentia. Filing five charges, the prosecution argued Hasina was directly responsible for ordering all state forces, her Awami League party and its associates to carry out actions leading to mass killings, injuries, targeted violence against women and children, the incineration of bodies and denial of medical treatment to the wounded. The charges describe Hasina, 77, as the "mastermind, conductor and superior commander" of the atrocities. WATCH l A new administration, but many challenges for Bangladesh: Bangladesh rallies for change months after anti-government uprising 4 months ago Duration 2:31 The interim government has already banned the Awami League party and amended relevant laws to allow the trial of the former ruling party for its role during the uprising. In February, the UN human rights office estimated up to 1,400 people may have been killed in Bangladesh over three weeks of crackdowns on the student-led protests against Hasina and two weeks after her fall on Aug. 5. The tribunal opened the trial June 5 and asked Hasina, in exile in India since her ouster, to appear. Bangladesh's interim government, headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, sent a formal request to India for Hasina's extradition but India has not responded. Al-Mamun was arrested and was in the dock Thursday while the judges indicted them. Al-Mamun pleaded guilty and told the tribunal that he would make a statement in favour of the prosecution at a later stage. Trial set for next month The prosecution offered a leaked audio of Hasina and other documents as evidence to the tribunal. BBC earlier this week said it had obtained audio, which they published and broadcast, in which she appeared to authorize the security forces to use lethal force if necessary. Amir Hossain, a lawyer appointed by the state for Hasina and Khan, appeared at Thursday's hearing and filed a petition to drop their names from the case, but the tribunal rejected the plea. WATCH l How the Hasina government fell (from 2024): How students brought down the Bangladesh government 11 months ago Duration 11:56 The tribunal later fixed Aug. 3 for the opening statement by the prosecution and Aug. 4 for recording witness statements. Earlier this month, the tribunal sentenced Hasina to six months in jail after she was found in contempt of court for allegedly claiming she had a licence to kill at least 227 people. That case stemmed from a leaked audio recording of a supposed phone conversation between Hasina and a leader of the student wing of her political party. A person alleged to be Hasina is heard on the audio saying, "There are 227 cases against me, so I now have a licence to kill 227 people." The tribunal was established by Hasina in 2009 to investigate and try crimes involving Bangladesh's independence war against Pakistan in 1971. The tribunal under Hasina tried politicians, mostly from the Jamaat-e-Islami party, for their actions during the nine-month war. Aided by India, Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina's father and the country's first leader. Hasina herself was leader for 15 years, a tenure marked by economic development but also accusations of human rights abuses. Her administration was accused of unfairly muzzling opposition politicians, and sometimes held elections that were deemed neither free nor fair.
The Independent
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Bangladesh tribunal indicts ousted PM Sheikh Hasina for ‘crimes against humanity'
A Bangladeshi tribunal has formally indicted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was overthrown in a violent uprising last year, for crimes against humanity. The International Crimes Tribunal, set up to try members of the Hasina regime for seeking to put down the uprising by force, accepted charges against the ousted leader and two of her former officials, local media reported on Thursday. A three-member panel led by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder indicted Ms Hasina, 77, her home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun on five counts related to the crackdown on the agitation last year. The panel said it was accepting the charges after examining the evidence presented by the prosecution, paving the way for the trial to proceed. Ms Hasina, who fled by helicopter to India after her government collapsed on 5 August, was tried in absentia as Mr Khan was. She lives in New Delhi, close to the corridors of power in the Indian capital, evading an extradition bid by Dhaka's interim government. Mr Mamun, who is in custody, has reportedly petitioned the tribunal to become a state witness, according to bdnews24. The tribunal issued arrest warrants for the former prime minister and 45 of her ministers, advisors, and military and civil officials last October. At the opening of the trial in June, prosecutors accused the former leader of orchestrating a 'coordinated, widespread and systematic attack' on demonstrators against her government. 'Upon scrutinising the evidence, we reached the conclusion that it was a coordinated, widespread and systematic attack,' chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam was quoted as saying by AFP. 'The accused unleashed all law enforcement agencies and her armed party members to crush the uprising.' A UN fact-finding team has estimated that around 1,400 people were killed in the protests, most of them students. Rights groups have raised concerns about disappearances, custodial deaths, and the use of excessive force during the crackdown. Ms Hasina faces multiple cases in Bangladeshi courts on the charges of mass murder, enforced disappearances and crimes against humanity. The power vacuum was quickly filled by a caretaker government led by Hasina critic and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who returned to the country to be named interim leader. Almost a year since the protests, Bangladeshis await a democratic election to choose their new leader.
Hindustan Times
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Sheikh Hasina formally indicted in crimes against humanity cases in Bangladesh: Reports
Bangladesh's deposed premier Sheikh Hasina was on Thursday formally indicted in crimes against humanity case, news agency PTI reported, citing local media reports. FILE -Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina Wazed arrives at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Nov. 9, 2021, to meet French President Emmanuel Macron for bilateral talks on the sideline of the Paris Peace Forum summit. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)(AP) The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) indicted Sheikh Hasina by accepting charges of crimes against humanity filed against her in connection with a mass uprising in which hundreds of students were killed last year. A three-member panel, headed by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, indicted Sheikh Hasina, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun on five charges, the report said. Former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun has reportedly pleaded guilty and petitioned to turn state's witness in the case, as per bdnews24 news portal. Mamun is the only one of the three to be detained in jail as Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan are being tried in absentia. Sheikh Hasina fled to India on August 5 after her Awami League government was toppled last year. Bangladeshi prosecutors at the International Crimes Tribunal formally charged Sheikh Hasina of crimes against humanity in June this year during the mass uprising in the country last year. Mohammad Tajul Islam, the chief prosecutor at Bangladesh's domestic International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), had alleged that Hasina orchestrated a "systemic attack" on protests against her government as the trial against her opened on Sunday. "Upon scrutinising the evidence, we reached the conclusion that it was a coordinated, widespread and systematic attack," Islam had told the court in his opening speech, according to AFP news agency. "The accused unleashed all law enforcement agencies and her armed party members to crush the uprising". On August 5 last year, Sheikh Hasina's 16-year rule with the Awami League was overthrown in a violent mass uprising. A fact-finding committee of the United Nations Human Rights High Commission estimates that around 1,400 people were killed in the protests. Since then, the 77-year-old Hasina has been residing in India. She faces multiple cases in Bangladeshi courts, where she is accused of numerous charges like mass murders and crimes against humanity, and enforced disappearances.
