DHAKA, July 10—A special war crimes tribunal on Thursday indicted deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in absentia for crimes against humanity related to a deadly state crackdown on protesters during the July-August 2024 uprising.
The International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh (ICT-BD), set up originally to try 1971 war criminals, formally framed charges against Hasina, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and then Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun. The tribunal has set August 3 as the date for the start of the trial.
“This is the first time the formal trial against Sheikh Hasina and other top officials for mass killings and torture has begun,” a prosecution lawyer told reporters outside the courtroom. He said the charges include five counts ranging from mass killings and murder to the use of state machinery for torture to quell a civil uprising.
According to a UN rights office report, as many as 1,400 people were killed during the month-long protests from July 15 to August 15 last year, when Hasina’s regime reportedly unleashed a violent crackdown using helicopters, drones, and armed police. The protest movement, largely led by students, had gripped the nation and eventually forced Hasina to flee the capital on August 5, 2024.
The tribunal’s bench, headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, rejected the defence’s plea to dismiss the charges. The panel also includes Justices Md Shofiul Alam Mahmood and Md Mohitul Haq Enam Chowdhury.
Significantly, former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, the only accused present in court, pleaded guilty during Thursday’s hearing and expressed willingness to testify for the prosecution. His lawyer confirmed that Mamun is prepared to become a state witness, confessing his role in carrying out orders to suppress protesters in Dhaka’s Chankharpul and Ashulia areas.
The tribunal said it would later determine whether Mamun will be treated formally as an “approver.”
Prosecutors said one of the key charges involves Hasina’s televised press conference on July 14, 2024, where she allegedly issued provocative statements and directed security forces to “eliminate” demonstrators using “lethal force, helicopters, and drones.” The investigation report, submitted on May 12 this year, accuses the former premier and her co-accused of orchestrating and overseeing coordinated killings with political support from the Awami League.
If convicted, the 72-year-old Hasina and the other accused could face the death penalty.
Hasina, who had ruled Bangladesh for over 15 years before being ousted, now faces multiple legal cases under the interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. The transitional government has pushed for accountability over what it describes as “grave and systematic abuses of power” by the former regime.
The charges have sent shockwaves across the country and are expected to dominate the political landscape as the trial unfolds. The Awami League has not yet issued a formal response to the indictment.
