Bangladesh tribunal begins former PM Sheikh Hasina’s trial; proceedings aired live on national TV

DHAKA: Formal charges were filed on Sunday against the former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for crimes against humanity committed during the student-led uprising in the country in July-August 2024.

Incidentally, the trial is being conducted in Sheikh Hasina’s absence and the Bangladesh state-owned broadcaster Bangladeshi TV (BTV) will air the proceedings live.

Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam filed formal charges at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Dhaka. Ironically, the tribunal was formed by Hasina to try crimes committed during Bangladesh’s Liberation War in 1971.

The prosecution of the Bangladeshi International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has pressed formal charges against Hasina, who had fled the country last year, in a case filed over their alleged crimes against humanity committed during the July mass uprising. As per the charges Hasina was the main mastermind behind the inhumane acts such as crimes against humanity, murders, and burning of bodies across the country during the movement to overthrow the government in 2024. These crimes were organized on her orders. She is the main instigator of the crimes, as per the charges.

Arrest warrants have also been issued against other members of Hasina’s Awami League. Former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former IGP Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun were named co-accused in the complaint submitted by Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam to the ICT.

Hasina has defied an arrest warrant and extradition orders from Dhaka to face trial in person. She has rejected the charges as politically motivated.

A fact-finding committee of the United Nations Human Rights High Commission estimates that around 1,400 people were killed during anti-Sheikh Hasina protests in 2024. The Awami League has denied the allegations against Sheikh Hasina, saying that many of the protesters, police, and Awami

League leaders and party activists were killed by the attacks of protesters.

Meanwhile, the Appellate Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court on Sunday ordered the Election Commission to revoke Jamaat-e-Islami’s registration as a political party.

During Sheikh Hasina’s tenure, the government banned Jamaat-e-Islami. The Election Commission also cancelled the party’s registration. The interim government lifted the ban on the Jamaat.

Jamaat-e-Islami opposed the independence of Bangladesh in the 1971 war of liberation. Sheikh Hasina’s government tried Jamaat for war crimes. The interim government banned Awami League activities and began the trial of Sheikh Hasina.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a student-led uprising in August last year. She is now living in India on self-imposed exile. After Sheikh Hasina’s fall, an interim government was formed under the leadership of Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus. (ANI)