Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasina’s government launched a brutal campaign to silence the protesters
Bangladesh is set to begin the trial on Sunday of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, 77, who faces charges of crimes against humanity. Prosecutors confirmed the charges are linked to the killing of protesters by police. Hasina fled to India, a long-time ally, in August 2024 via helicopter, following a student-led mass uprising that brought her 15-year rule to an end. She has since resisted an extradition order to return to Dhaka.
“The prosecution team … is set to submit charges against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina,” said Gazi MH Tamim, one of the prosecutors.
Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasina’s government launched a brutal campaign to silence the protesters, according to the United Nations.
The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh is moving forward with the prosecution of high-ranking officials formerly associated with the deposed Hasina administration and the now-prohibited Awami League party. Such legal action against former Hasina government figures is a significant requirement put forth by various political factions competing for influence. The interim government has pledged to conduct elections prior to June 2026. The proceedings are slated for live broadcast on the state-owned Bangladesh Television. Following the prosecutors’ submission of their report on Hasina’s case last month, the court is expected to commence by formally issuing charges this Sunday.
On May 12, ICT chief prosecutor Tajul Islam stated that Hasina is facing at least five charges, including abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy, and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising. Investigators have gathered evidence such as video footage, audio clips, Hasina’s phone conversations, and records of helicopter and drone movements, along with statements from victims of the crackdown. Hasina, who remains in self-imposed exile in India, has defied an arrest warrant and extradition orders from Dhaka, dismissing the charges as politically motivated. Former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun are expected to face similar charges in the same case.
The ICT court opened its first trial connected to the previous 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 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.
