Sheikh Hasina, others face ‘crimes against humanity’ case

Dhaka: A complaint was filed on Wednesday with the investigation agency of Bangladesh’s International Crime Tribunal against deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and several others, accusing them of committing genocide and crimes against humanity during the mass movement of the students against her government.

“The complaint was filed by the father of one of the students who died in police gunshots during the massive street protests,” an official of the agency said.

A Supreme Court lawyer filed the case on behalf of Bulbul Kabir, father of slain Arif Ahmed Siyam, a class 9 student who was shot dead by police during the protest on August 5.

“We have registered the complaint and thus the investigation of the case has started,” Ataur Rahman, deputy director of the agency, was quoted as saying by The Daily Star newspaper.

“Upon completion of the probe, we will submit the report to the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of the tribunal for the next procedures,” he added.

Hasina and several others were accused of “genocide and crimes against humanity in the complaint,” state-run BSS news agency reported.

The complaint comes on a day when the interim government said that the murders conducted within the period from July 1 to August 5 will be tried by the International Crimes Tribunal.

The complaint accused 76-year-old Hasina and the others of perpetrating the mass killings between July 15 and August 5, the day when Hasina resigned and fled the country, while the students and others who died during the period would come under the purview of the complaint as well, the official said.

In line with the procedure, the agency would need to investigate the complaints and then file a case before the ICT-BD, originally constituted to try the Bengali-speaking perpetrators of 1971 Liberation Wartime crimes siding with the Pakistani troops.

Others named in the complaint included the general secretary of Hasina’s Awami League and former road transport minister Obaidul Quader, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, ex-junior minister for information and broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat, ex-junior minister for ICT affairs Zunaid Ahmed Palak and several senior police officers including sacked police chief Chowdhury Abdullah al Mamun.

Over 230 people died in Bangladesh in the incidents of violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina government on August 5, taking the death toll to 560 during the three weeks of violence, which originated from a students’ movement against a controversial quota system in jobs.

“The interim government has made preparations to investigate these incidents under the supervision of the United Nations. The murders conducted within the period from July 1 to August 5 will be tried by the International Crimes Tribunal,” Law Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul was quoted as saying by the state-run BSS news agency.