A formal complaint was filed against immediate past Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and several high-ranking officials at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), accusing them of committing crimes against humanity and genocide during the student protests between July 15 and August 5 this year.
Besides, the same day, two more cases were also filed against Sheikh Hasina and several other ex-ministers and top ranking officials in the law-enforcement agencies.
Complaint lodged at ICT against Hasina, top officials
The complaint was filed today by Supreme Court lawyer Gazi MH Tanim on behalf of Bulbul Kabir, the father of Alif Ahmed Siam, a class 9 student who was shot by police in Savar on August 5 and succumbed to his injuries two days later.
The other key figures named in the complaint include Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, former State Minister for Post, Telecommunication, and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak, former State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat, former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, former Additional Commissioner of Detective Branch Harun Or Rashid, former DMP Commissioner Habibur Rahman, and former Director General of RAB Md Harun Ur Rashid.
In addition to them, the complaint implicates unnamed ministers, state ministers, MPs, and corrupt officials from the police and RAB, as well as leaders and activists from the Awami League, Jubo League, and Chhatra League. The organisations themselves, along with their affiliated bodies, have also been accused.
According to the complaint, the violence was orchestrated under the direction of the named individuals, who allegedly ordered the use of firearms—both local and automatic—against peaceful, unarmed students and citizens involved in the protests calling for quota reform and later Hasina’s resignation. The complaint says the accused attempted to partially or wholly exterminate the protesters, thus committing acts of genocide and crimes against humanity.
The complaint further highlights provocative statements made by Obaidul Quader and other government figures, which allegedly incited violence. Quader is reported to have stated that the Chhatra League alone was sufficient to “deal with the” the protesting students, and that during the curfew, orders were given to shoot on sight.
Two more cases filed against Hasina, others
Two more cases were filed against immediate past Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday.
One of the two cases were filed against Sheikh Hasina and 23 others in connection with the death of Foijul Islam Rajon, an 18-year-old Dhaka Degree College student, who was killed in the capital’s Kafrul area on July 19.
This marks the second murder case filed against Hasina since she resigned and fled the country following a mass uprising on August 5.
The murder case was filed by Rajon’s brother, Md Rajib, at the Court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ahmed Humayun Kabir. The court recorded Rajib’s statement and directed the officer-in-charge of Kafrul Police Station to register the case as a first information report.
Alongside Sheikh Hasina, other accused persons in the case include ex-Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, former Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, former Law Minister Anisul Huq, former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, former Detective Branch Chief Harun Or Rashid, former Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Habibur Rahman and former DMP Joint Commissioner Biplob Kumar Sarkar.
Earlier on Tuesday, another murder case was filed against Hasina, Asaduzzaman, and five others over the death of grocery shop owner Abu Sayed, who was killed in police firing during quota reform protests in the Mohammadpur area of Dhaka, also on July 19.
Besides, a Dhaka court on Wednesday directed Uttara West Police Station to register a case as an FIR based on an application accusing former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and four others of enforced disappearance.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Farzana Shakila Sumu Chowdhury issued the order. Earlier, the victim, who is a lawyer, Md. Sohel Rana, filed the case application before the court. The court also recorded his statement.
The case also named former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, former Law Minister Anisul Huq, former IGP Shahidul Hoque, and former IGP Benazir Ahmed, as well as 25 unidentified members of RAB, as the accused persosn.
According to the complaint, on February 10 in 2015, Sohel Rana was with his friend Ashraful Islam Rinku in front of Smile Gallery on Road No. 1 in Sector 5, Uttara. Between 8:00 PM and 8:30 PM, a person approached them with a smart device and asked for their identity.
After they provided their identity, they were told there was something urgent to discuss and were taken into a vehicle. Inside the vehicle, they saw two individuals in RAB uniforms and another 10-11 armed men.
As soon as they entered the vehicle, their eyes were blindfolded, and their hands were handcuffed. Sohel Rana was subjected to electric shocks inside the vehicle. To drown out his screams, loud music was played. After a while, Rinku was dropped off at an unknown location.
About an hour later, Sohel Rana realized he had been taken to the underground of a building. There, they continued to verbally abuse Khaleda Zia and tortured him with electric shocks. Two hours later, 3-4 individuals arrived and began beating him while he was suspended. He lost consciousness.
Upon regaining consciousness, he was tortured again. They inquired whether he had ordered an attack on the Election Commission. He was again subjected to electric shocks and threatened with death. He was repeatedly tortured, prevented from praying, and kept bound with his hands tied behind his back.
On June 6, after 7 to 8 hours of travel, he and a few others were taken to an unknown location.
On August 13, between 3:00 AM and 4:00 AM, he was released. He was threatened to quit politics, and his hands and eyes remained bound. Later, he learned from locals that he was in Godagari, Rajshahi.
After gaining freedom, the complainant known that under the orders of Sheikh Hasina, the other accused were allegedly conducting abductions and extrajudicial killings in the name of enforced disappearances to establish a dictatorship and authoritarian regime in the country, and that he himself was a svictim of such repression.
