Draft probe report names Sheikh Hasina, others in Shapla Chattar case: Chief prosecutor

The investigation agency of Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has submitted a draft investigation report in the crimes against humanity case over the killings surrounding Hefazat-e-Islam’s rally at Shapla Chattar (Square) in Motijheel, Dhaka.

The report was submitted to the Office of the Chief Prosecutor. According to Chief Prosecutor Aminul Islam, the draft names Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted during the July Uprising, along with several others as accused.

Briefing reporters at his office on Sunday afternoon, Aminul Islam said Sheikh Hasina’s name appears in the draft report. He added that the report also names the then Inspector General of Police (IGP), the then director general of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and several other individuals. He said the prosecution would now review and verify the findings.

Asked which other individuals had been named in the draft report, the chief prosecutor replied, “Since this is only a draft and we have not yet received the final investigation report, we do not want to, and cannot, disclose the list of accused.”

During the briefing, Aminul Islam said the tribunal’s investigation agency had spent a long period investigating what he described as the “brutal killings” that took place at Shapla Chattar on 5 May 2013. Following the completion of its investigation, the agency submitted a draft report to the Chief Prosecutor’s Office, which will now examine it.

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 has set 10 August as the deadline for submission of the final investigation report in the case.

Those currently in custody in connection with the case include former minister Dipu Moni, former state minister for home affairs Shamsul Haque, Shahriar Kabir, president of the Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, retired Major General Ziaul Ahsan, former inspector general of police AKM Shahidul Hoque, Deputy Inspector General of Police Molla Nazrul Islam, former Ekattor TV managing director Mozammel Babu, and the channel’s former chief reporter Farzana Rupa.

Other accused who remain at large include former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, former home minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, former inspectors general of police Hasan Mahmud Khandker and Benazir Ahmed, and Imran H Sarker, spokesperson for the Shahbagh movement (Ganajagaran Mancha), among others.