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Malay Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Malay Mail
Bangladesh's fugitive ex-PM Hasina accused of ‘crimes against humanity' in protest crackdown trial
DHAKA, June 2 — Fugitive former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina orchestrated a 'systematic attack' that amounted to crimes against humanity in her attempt to crush the uprising that toppled her government, Bangladeshi prosecutors said at the opening of her trial on Sunday. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 after Hasina's government launched its crackdown, according to the United Nations. Hasina, 77, fled by helicopter to her old ally India as the student-led uprising ended her 15-year rule and she has defied an extradition order to return to Dhaka. Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is prosecuting former senior figures connected to Hasina's ousted government and her now-banned party, the Awami League. 'Upon scrutinising the evidence, we reached the conclusion that it was a coordinated, widespread and systematic attack,' ICT chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam told the court in his opening speech. 'The accused unleashed all law enforcement agencies and her armed party members to crush the uprising.' Islam lodged five charges each against Hasina and two other officials that included 'abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy, and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising'. Prosecutors say such acts are tantamount to 'crimes against humanity'. 'Not an act of vendetta' Hasina, who remains in self-imposed exile in India, has rejected the charges as politically motivated. As well as Hasina, the case includes ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun — who is in custody but did not appear in court on Sunday — and former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who is also on the run. 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 being broadcast live on state-owned Bangladesh Television. Prosecutor Islam vowed that the trial would be impartial. 'This is not an act of vendetta but a commitment to the principle that, in a democratic country, there is no room for crimes against humanity,' he said. Investigators have collected video footage, audio clips, Hasina's phone conversations and records of helicopter and drone movements, as well as statements from victims of the crackdown, as part of their probe. The prosecution argues that Hasina ordered security forces, through directives from the interior ministry and police, to crush the protesters. 'They systematically committed murder, attempted murder, torture, and other inhuman acts,' Islam said. Prosecutors also allege that security forces opened fire from helicopters after Hasina's directives. They also accused Hasina of ordering the killing of student protester Abu Sayeed, who was shot dead at close range in the northern city of Rangpur on July 16. He was the first student demonstrator killed in the police crackdown on protests and footage of his last moments was shown repeatedly on Bangladeshi television after Hasina's downfall. The ICT court opened its first trial connected to Hasina's 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, the day that 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 numerous prominent political opponents to death and became widely seen as a means for Hasina to eliminate rivals. Separately on Sunday, the Supreme Court restored the registration of Bangladesh's largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, allowing it to take part in elections. Hasina had banned Jamaat-e-Islami and cracked down on its leaders. Bangladesh's interim government banned the Awami League in May, pending the outcome of her trial, and those of other party leaders. — AFP
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Ousted Bangladesh leader Hasina faces crimes against humanity charges
Former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina was formally charged with crimes against humanity on Sunday for her alleged role in the brutal suppression of last year's mass uprising, which ultimately ended her 15-year rule. A three-member panel of judges at the International Crimes Tribunal in Dhaka led by Golam Mortuza Mozumder accepted the charges against Hasina and two of her senior aides — former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun. Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam, while presenting the charges, said Hasina incited crimes against humanity through inflammatory rhetoric and by mobilizing the state's administrative and security apparatus to violently quell the protests. The prosecution accused the trio of abetment, conspiracy, complicity, facilitation and failing to prevent mass killings during the student-led demonstrations that erupted across Bangladesh in mid-2024. According to Chief Prosecutor Islam, Hasina and her aides 'unleashed all state law enforcement agencies and armed members of the then ruling party to crush the uprising.' He described the crackdown as a 'systematic attack aimed at silencing dissent.' The court proceedings were broadcast live on state-run Bangladesh Television, marking an unprecedented moment in the history of Bangladesh's judiciary. A United Nations fact-finding mission estimated that approximately 1,400 people were killed in the unrest, which initially began in July 2024 as a protest against the controversial quota system in public sector recruitment. The protest soon spread nationwide and culminated into mass uprising, leading to Hasina's ouster in early August. Hasina, 77, fled the country by military helicopter on August, 5, 2024 and has since remained in exile in India.
Scroll.in
3 days ago
- Politics
- Scroll.in
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.
Asharq Al-Awsat
3 days ago
- General
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Bangladesh to Open Trial of Fugitive ex-PM
Bangladesh will open the trial on Sunday 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, AFP said. "The prosecution team ... is set to submit charges against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina," said Gazi MH 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 last month with the court on Sunday 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 court 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, 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 numerous prominent political opponents to death and became widely seen as a means for Hasina to eliminate rivals.
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- General
- Bloomberg
Bangladesh Charges Ex-PM Hasina With Crimes Against Humanity
Bangladeshi prosecutors officially charged former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and two senior officials with crimes against humanity for their alleged roles in violent crackdowns during the 2024 student-led uprising. An investigation report found that Hasina 'directly ordered' state security forces, her political party and affiliated groups to conduct operations resulting in mass casualties. 'These killings were planned,' Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam said in a televised hearing on Sunday, citing video evidence and encrypted communications between different agencies.
