Latest news with #MohammadTajulIslam
New York Times
02-06-2025
- General
- New York Times
Bangladesh's Ousted Leader Faces New Arrest Warrant in Killing of Protesters
A special court in Bangladesh on Sunday issued an arrest warrant for the ousted leader Sheikh Hasina, as prosecutors sought to hold her accountable for the deaths of more than a thousand protesters in the final months of her authoritarian rule. The International Crimes Tribunal, which Ms. Hasina set up in 2010 to look into war crimes of decades past, charged Ms. Hasina, the former prime minister, and several of her top lieutenants with a long list of roles in the mass killings, including incitement, facilitation and conspiracy. While the toppled leader has faced arrest warrants in other cases, these are the gravest of charges against her so far. The tribunal's chief prosecutor, Mohammad Tajul Islam, accused Ms. Hasina of unleashing systematic violence against peaceful protesters last July before she fled the country and sought refuge in India, where she remains. While Ms. Hasina's years of crushing dissent, which culminated with last summer's deadly crackdown, are well-documented, the trial comes at a particularly fraught political moment in Bangladesh. The interim administration that replaced her is accused by opposition parties of delaying elections for her replacement. Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Laureate who is leading the interim government, is facing pressure from opposition parties to hold the vote by December. He has pushed for more months beyond that, saying the extra time is needed to reform election procedures and deliver a fairer vote. The court's proceedings were televised live for the first time in the country's history. All of the accused were absent. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
News.com.au
02-06-2025
- General
- News.com.au
Bangladesh ex-PM accused of 'systematic attack' in deadly protest crackdown
Fugitive former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina orchestrated a "systematic attack" that amounted to crimes against humanity in her attempt to crush the uprising that toppled her government, Bangladeshi prosecutors said at the opening of her trial on Sunday. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 after Hasina's government launched its crackdown, according to the United Nations. Hasina, 77, fled by helicopter to her old ally India as the student-led uprising ended her 15-year rule and she has defied an extradition order to return to Dhaka. Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is prosecuting former senior figures connected to Hasina's ousted government and her now-banned party, the Awami League. "Upon scrutinising the evidence, we reached the conclusion that it was a coordinated, widespread and systematic attack," ICT chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam told the court in his opening speech. "The accused unleashed all law enforcement agencies and her armed party members to crush the uprising." Islam lodged five charges each against Hasina and two other officials that included "abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy, and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising". Prosecutors say such acts are tantamount to "crimes against humanity". - 'Not an act of vendetta' - Hasina, who remains in self-imposed exile in India, has rejected the charges as politically motivated. As well as Hasina, the case includes ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun -- who is in custody but did not appear in court on Sunday -- and former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who is also on the run. The prosecution of senior figures from Hasina's government is a key demand of several of the political parties now jostling for power. The interim government has vowed to hold elections before June 2026. The hearing is being broadcast live on state-owned Bangladesh Television. Prosecutor Islam vowed that the trial would be impartial. "This is not an act of vendetta but a commitment to the principle that, in a democratic country, there is no room for crimes against humanity," he said. Investigators have collected video footage, audio clips, Hasina's phone conversations and records of helicopter and drone movements, as well as statements from victims of the crackdown, as part of their probe. The prosecution argues that Hasina ordered security forces, through directives from the interior ministry and police, to crush the protesters. "They systematically committed murder, attempted murder, torture, and other inhuman acts," Islam said. Prosecutors also allege that security forces opened fire from helicopters after Hasina's directives. They also accused Hasina of ordering the killing of student protester Abu Sayeed, who was shot dead at close range in the northern city of Rangpur on July 16. He was the first student demonstrator killed in the police crackdown on protests and footage of his last moments was shown repeatedly on Bangladeshi television after Hasina's downfall. The ICT court opened its first trial connected to Hasina's government on May 25. In that case, eight police officials face charges of crimes against humanity over the killing of six protesters on August 5, the day that Hasina fled the country. Four of the officers are in custody and four are being tried in absentia. The ICT was set up by Hasina in 2009 to investigate crimes committed by the Pakistani army during Bangladesh's war for independence in 1971. It sentenced numerous prominent political opponents to death and became widely seen as a means for Hasina to eliminate rivals. Separately on Sunday, the Supreme Court restored the registration of Bangladesh's largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, allowing it to take part in elections. Hasina had banned Jamaat-e-Islami and cracked down on its leaders. Bangladesh's interim government banned the Awami League in May, pending the outcome of her trial, and those of other party leaders. sa/pjm/pbt
Observer
01-06-2025
- Politics
- Observer
Ex-PM accused of ‘systematic attack'
DHAKA: Fugitive former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina orchestrated a "systematic attack" that amounted to crimes against humanity in her attempt to crush the uprising that toppled her government, Bangladeshi prosecutors said at the opening of her trial on Sunday. Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is prosecuting former senior figures connected to Hasina's ousted government and her now-banned party, the Awami League. "Upon scrutinising the evidence, we reached the conclusion that it was a coordinated, widespread and systematic attack," ICT chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam told the court in his opening speech. "The accused unleashed all law enforcement agencies and her armed party members to crush the uprising." Islam lodged five charges each against Hasina and two other officials that included "abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy, and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising". Prosecutors say such acts are tantamount to "crimes against humanity". — AFP
Times of Oman
01-06-2025
- General
- Times of Oman
Bangladesh: Exiled ex-PM Sheikh Hasina on trial
Dhaka: The trial against Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina began in Dhaka on Sunday, with the fugitive former leader being accused of crimes against humanity. Hasina was ousted in a student-led uprising last year, with the nationwide unrest ending with her fleeing Bangladesh and finding refuge in neighbouring India. She has since refused an extradition order to return to Dhaka. The trial against Hasina is being held in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT). The officials are focusing on her government's crackdown against the protest movement, which marked the end of her 15-year rule. What did prosecutors say about Sheikh Hasina? 'Upon scrutinising the evidence, we reached the conclusion that it was a coordinated, widespread and systematic attack,' ICT chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam told the court in his opening speech. 'The accused unleashed all law enforcement agencies and her armed party members to crush the uprising.' Prosecutors have accused Hasina of directing the violent crackdown, including ordering the killing of student protester Abu Sayeed, the first to be killed during the uprising. The prosecution has listed five charges against Hasina and several other top officials from her government, including 'abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy, and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising.' Islam said the charges amounted to 'crimes against humanity.' How has Sheikh Hasina responded to the charges? Hasina claims the charges against her are politically motivated. Her party, the Awami League, was banned pending the result of the trial. Islam vowed the trial would be impartial, saying: 'This is not an act of vendetta but a commitment to the principle that, in a democratic country, there is no room for crimes against humanity.' Sunday's trial also included ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, who is in custody but was not in court on the opening day, and former Interior Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal who is on the run, presumed to also be in India. The ICT was first set up by Hasina in 2009 to investigate crimes carried out by the Pakistani military during Bangladesh's war for independence in 1971.
Arab News
01-06-2025
- General
- Arab News
Bangladesh opens trial of ex-PM Hasina for crimes against humanity
DHAKA: Bangladeshi prosecutors on Sunday opened the trial of fugitive former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is charged with orchestrating last year's deadly crackdown on student-led protests. Peaceful demonstrations, triggered by the reinstatement of a quota system for the allocation of civil service positions, began in early July 2024 but two weeks later they were met with a communications blackout and a violent crackdown by security forces. In early August, as protesters defied a nationwide curfew, Hasina resigned and fled the country, ending 15 years in power of her Awami League party-led government. 'She unleashed various law enforcement and intelligence agencies against them (the protesting students) … They slaughtered the agitating students, injured them and committed crimes against humanity,' Mohammad Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor at Bangladesh's domestic International Crimes Tribunal, told the court in his opening speech. He charged the 77-year-old with 'incitement, aiding and abetting, involvement in the commission of the crimes of murder, attempted murder, torture and other inhumane acts as part of the widespread and systematic attacks on innocent unarmed students and the public.' The UN's human rights office concluded in February that between July 15 and Aug. 5, 2024, the former government and its security and intelligence apparatus, together with 'violent elements' linked to the Awami League, 'engaged systematically in serious human rights violations and abuses in a coordinated effort to suppress the protest movement.' It estimated that at least 1,400 people were killed during the protests, the majority by bullets from military rifles. ICT investigators have collected video footage, audio clips, records of helicopter and drone movements, as well as statements from victims of the crackdown as part of the probe. They also 'seized records of telephonic conversations of Sheikh Hasina, in which she repeatedly confirmed that she ordered all the state agencies to eliminate innocent civilians peacefully protesting for a fair demand, using helicopters, drones and APCs (armored personnel carriers),' Islam said. Sunday's hearing was broadcast live for the first in the ICT's history. 'The court accepted the charges against Sheikh Hasina, former Home Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun. There are five charges against them and the court accepted all five charges. We presented the charges through live broadcast before the nation,' Islam told reporters after the hearing. Al-Mamun is the only accused who has been detained while the ex-home minister is in hiding and Hasina remains in self-imposed exile in neighboring India. The next hearing is scheduled to take place on June 16. The tribunal ordered all three accused to be presented before the court. The International Crimes Tribunal was established by Hasina in 2010 to investigate crimes committed by the Pakistani army and its loyalists during Bangladesh's independence war in 1971. Over the years, it grew to be widely seen as the Hasina government's tool for eliminating political rivals.
