Crimes against humanity case against deposed Bangladesh PM Hasina nearly ready prosecutors

Dhaka, Apr 10 (PTI) The investigations into charges of "crimes against humanity" against Bangladesh's deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina are almost ready and will soon be filed before the International Crimes Tribunal, prosecution lawyers said on Thursday.
     “So far investigations into four cases have reached their final stage...one of those is the case filed against her (Hasina),” the tribunal's chief prosecutor Mohammad Tazul Islam told a media briefing at his office.
     Hasina, whose nearly 16-year Awami League regime was toppled last year in a student-led uprising on August 5, forcing her to leave the country for India, was accused of mass killings during the uprising and enforced disappearances earlier in the tribunal.
     Bangladesh’s interim government chief advisor Muhammad Yunus earlier sought her extradition, sending a diplomatic note that New Delhi acknowledged without further comments.
     Islam said 141 people including ministers of the past regime have so far been accused of alleged crimes against humanity during the July–August 2024 uprising and are set to be tried in the tribunal.
     The tribunal's prosecution chief said 54 of them were in custody while the rest were on the run at home and abroad. He said 339 complaints were lodged in the tribunal.
     Meanwhile, he said the tribunal has issued an order directing the Home Ministry to request Interpol red notices against 10 former ministers and other high-profile figures from Hasina’s government who are currently in hiding abroad.
     According to Islam, they included Awami League General Secretary and former road transport minister Obaidul Quader, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, former liberation war affairs minister AKM Mozammel Haque, former foreign minister Hasan Mahmud and Hasina's defence affairs adviser ex-major general Tarique Ahmed Siddique.
     Several others like former junior minister for information Ali Arafat, state minister for energy Nasrul Hamid Bipu, state minister for education Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel and former mayor of South Dhaka and Hasina’s nephew Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh were named in the list for proposed Interpol action.
     "The prosecution had submitted several petitions to the tribunal seeking direction for the Inspector General of Police to take necessary steps to arrest these 10 individuals through Interpol,” Islam said.
     He added: “The tribunal has granted the petitions, and the orders have now been sent to the police headquarters."
     According to a UN rights office report, around 1,400 people were killed between July 15 and August 15 last year in actions by police and pro-Awami League political elements and retaliatory violence even after the fall of the past regime.
     The tribunal's prosecutor, however, said 1,500 to 2,000 people were killed during the uprising and “there is undeniable evidence of every incident”.
     "We are confident we will be able to prove these before the tribunal," he said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)