Issued on: 18.11.2024 – 09:16

2 minutes

Dozens of Hasina’s allies have been taken into custody since the fall of her regime, accused of involvement in a police crackdown that killed more than 700 people during the unrest that led to her ouster.

Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam said the 13 defendants, including 11 former ministers, a judge and a former government secretary, were charged with command responsibility for the deadly crackdown on the student-led protest that ousted the regime.

Hasina, who fled to old ally India by helicopter on August 5, was also due to appear in court in Dhaka on Monday to face charges of “massacres, murders and crimes against humanity”, but she has remained on the run in exile.

“Today we presented 13 defendants, including 11 former ministers, a bureaucrat and a judge,” said Islam, chief prosecutor of Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal.

“They are complicit in enabling the massacres by participating in planning, inciting violence, ordering police to shoot on sight and obstructing efforts to prevent genocide.”

About half a dozen lawyers supported the defendants, who were brought from jail and taken to court surrounded by a ring of security forces to separate them from the large crowd outside.

Hasina’s 15-year tenure has resulted in widespread human rights abuses, including mass detentions and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.

The charges the 13 face are so far limited to a police crackdown on student-led protests, but Islam has asked for more time to gather evidence that stretches further.

“Crimes leading to mass killings and genocide have occurred in the last 16 years across the country,” he told reporters.

The court gave prosecutors until December 17 to submit their investigation report.

“Help Wanted”

The defendants have listened to the charges read to them, but have not yet been asked to enter a plea.

At one point, former industry minister Kamal Ahmed Majumdar stood up and spoke, appealing to the judge to “say something”, an AFP reporter heard from the court.

He was not allowed to speak any further.

Others in the court included once-powerful former law minister Anisul Huq, former Supreme Court judge Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and former energy adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury.

Former Minister of Social Affairs Dipu Moni is the only woman among the 13.

Islam said efforts were underway to bring Hasina, 77, to Dhaka for trial, a day after interim leader Muhammad Yunus said Bangladesh was seeking her extradition.

Islam said they contacted Interpol “seeking assistance in arresting her as she has committed crimes against humanity”.

Red notices issued by the global police body alert law enforcement agencies around the world to fugitives.

India is a member of Interpol, but the red notice does not mean that New Delhi has to hand over Hasina, as each country applies its own laws regarding arrest.

© 2024 AFP