Arrest Warrants Issued Against Sheikh Hasina in Enforced Disappearance Cases

Arrest Warrants Issued Against Sheikh Hasina in Enforced Disappearance Cases

A special tribunal in Bangladesh on Wednesday issued arrest warrants against deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 29 others on charges of crimes against humanity in alleged cases of enforced disappearances during her Awami League regime.

A three-member International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) bench, with Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mojumder in the chair, took cognisance of the charges and issued arrest warrants against all the accused, a prosecutor said.

The tribunal, originally formed to try hardened collaborators of Pakistani troops during the 1971 Liberation War, issued arrest warrants against Hasina and 29 others, mostly former military officers who served on deputation in intelligence agencies.

He said the charges involving the enforced disappearances were framed under two cases, both of which named Hasina as a key accused, who is now being tried in absentia on charges of committing crimes against humanity.

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The  ICT-BD’s chief prosecutor, Mohammad Tajul Islam, who previously appeared as a key defence lawyer in the collaborators trial, said Hasina and her defence adviser former major general Tarique Siddique were key accused of abduction and torture in captivity.

Of the accused, five were former directors general of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, mostly manned by army, navy and air force officers and several officials of the elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion that draws personnel from the three armed forces and police.

The chief prosecutor described before the tribunal in detail the accounts of abduction, secret detention, and torture of individuals with dissenting political or ideological views, allegedly committed during the Awami League government’s rule.

The key civilian accused included former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, former police chiefs Benazir Ahmed and former RAB chiefs M Khurshid Hossain and Harun ur Rashid.

The warrants were issued as the accused are on the run, while Hasina is staying in India since her Awami League government was toppled on August 5 last year.

The ICT set October 22 as the date to produce the accused before the court.

Hasina, 78, faces multiple cases in Bangladesh after being ousted last year following the mass student-led agitation in the country. PTI

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