Dhaka: Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been formally charged with crimes against humanity in connection with a violent crackdown on student-led protests that took place in mid-2024. The charges were announced during a live broadcast of proceedings from the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), marking the first time such a trial has been aired on national television.
Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam stated that the unrest — which claimed the lives of up to 1,400 people according to United Nations estimates — was not spontaneous, but a “planned and coordinated” operation.
“After examining all available evidence, we concluded this was a systematic and widespread attack,” Islam said. “The accused used state law enforcement agencies and armed party supporters to suppress the dissent.”
The protests, which began as opposition to public sector job quota policies, quickly escalated into some of the most severe nationwide unrest Bangladesh has seen in decades.
Hasina, currently in self-imposed exile in India, has rejected the charges, calling them politically motivated.
Also facing charges are former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, who is in custody but did not attend the hearing, and former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who is believed to be in hiding.
“This is not a political vendetta,” Islam insisted. “This is about upholding the principle that crimes against humanity have no place in a democratic nation.”
Investigators have submitted extensive evidence, including video and audio recordings, records of Hasina’s communications, and data from helicopter and drone surveillance during the protests. Testimonies from victims and eyewitnesses also form part of the case.
The ICT opened its first trial related to the 2024 unrest on May 25, targeting eight police officers accused of involvement in the killing of six protesters on August 5, 2024 — the same day Hasina reportedly fled the country. Four of the officers are in custody, while the remaining four are being tried in absentia.
The International Crimes Tribunal was originally established in 2009 under Hasina’s own administration to prosecute war crimes from the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
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