Rana Plaza tragedy: Justice delayed for 11 years

The trial is yet to be completed in 11 years in the murder case filed over the tragic Rana Plaza building collapse that took place in Savar, outskirts of capital Dhaka, on 24 April 2013, killing 1,135 people. To date, the deposition of 84 out of 594 witnesses has been recorded, and now victim workers and their families raise questions about the sincerity of the prosecution.

Dhaka district and session judge court’s additional public prosecutor Bimal Samadder told Prothom Alo the recording of witness deposition had remained stalled for long due to the High Court’s stay order in favour of several accused, but the recording of witness deposition has been continuing for over a year on a regular basis.

Attorney general AM Amin Uddin told Prothom Alo that last January the Appellate Division ordered to depose the murder case within six months and the prosecution is working accordingly to abide by the top court order.

According to the case statements, a total of 1,135 people were killed and 1,169 others were maimed after sustained injury following the Rana Plaza building collapse on 24 April 1013. A total of 20 cases, including three criminal lawsuits, were filed over this incident. Police filed a murder case over the killings of the worker while Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) filed another case for violating the National Building Code and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on allegation of correction related to building construction.

The murder case was now pending at Dhaka District and Session Judge Court while the recording of witness deposition remains stalled in the case filed over the building code violation.

Reviews of the case documents show investigation into the murder case took two years. Investigating agencies got permission lately to charge-sheeted six government officials in this case. At that time, public administration and labour ministries said they would not allow the investigating agencies to name the officials, who committed no major offence, in charge-sheet. Despite this, the police’s Criminal Investigation Department filed the charge sheet adding those officials’ names in 2016 and the court ordered framing charges a year later.

But seven accused persons in the case challenged the order of charge framing with the high court. The court stayed the trial process which stalled the deposition of witnesses for five years. Recording the case deposition started on 31 January in 2022 as the stay order was cancelled for six accused.

Three charge-sheeted accused were acquitted as they had died. Now the number of total accused is 38. Only Sohel Rana, the son of Rana Plaza owner, is currently in jail.

Nilufar Akter, a victim, told Prothom Alo, “Many workers like me were disabled in the Rana Plaza collapse. We are still waiting for justice even after 11 years of this brutal incident. We really don’t know when Sohel Rana and others will be punished.”

At least five maimed in the collapse said they are undoing a harrowing experience as they did not receive any compensation.

CID on 26 April in 2015 submitted charge sheets against 18 including Sohel Rana for violating building codes and using substandard materials in construction of Rana Plaza. Dhaka’s chief judicial magistrate court on 14 June next year framed charges in the case. But some accused persons challenged the order in high court.

Additional public prosecutor Anowarul Kabir told Prothom Alo that the process of recording statements of the witnesses has been stalled as some accused persons have stay-orders of high court in their favor. The case is now under trial with the district and sessions judge court.

The other case over corruption centering construction of the building is under trial with Dhaka divisional special judge court. The process of recording statements of the witnesses is in the final stage in this case.

Garment’s worker’s leader Kalpana Akter expressed her frustration as justice remains elusive in the collapse that killed over a thousand workers.

She said the prosecution during the anniversary of building collapse every year says the case would be disposed of quickly. But if they were serious in delivering justice, the case would have been disposed of long ago.