Charges submitted against Sheikh Hasina for crimes against humanity

Formal charges have been submitted to the International Crimes Tribunal against the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina for crimes against humanity committed during the July-August uprising. The trial proceedings are being streamed lived on the media.

The charges were submitted today, Sunday, at 12:00 noon to the registrar of the tribunal after reviewing and verifying the related investigation report. Along with Sheikh Hasina, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun have also been named as accused in the case.

The tribunal's investigation agency on 12 May submitted the investigation report related to these charges to the chief prosecutor.

The International Crimes Tribunal was reconstituted following the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August last year in the face of the student-mass uprising. The first case filed in the reconstituted tribunal for crimes against humanity committed during the mass uprising was against Sheikh Hasina.

In addition to this case, there are two other cases pending against Sheikh Hasina in the tribunal. In one of those cases, she has been accused of connection with enforced disappearances and killings that took place during the 15 and a half years of Awami League rule.

The other case concerns the killings during the Hefazat-e-Islam rally at Shapla Chattar in Motijheel, Dhaka.

In July and August last year, a series of complaints were submitted alleging that, in order to suppress the student-mass movement, the Awami League government, along with its cadres and subservient administrative officials, as well as certain sections of the law enforcement agencies, committed mass killings and crimes against humanity. These crimes are now being tried in the tribunal.