ICT finds Hasina, two top aides guilty of crimes against humanity

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 found Bangladesh's deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and two top aides guilty of crimes against humanity committed during the July Uprising.

The two others are former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun.

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The three-member tribunal, led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, is still reading the final part of the 453-page judgement.

Hasina, 78, has defied the tribunal's orders to return from India to face trial on charges of ordering a deadly crackdown to suppress the student-led uprising that led to her ouster on August 5 last year.

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A look at the five charges against Hasina in crimes against humanity case

Asaduzzaman is fugitive while Mamun is in custody and has pleaded guilty. Mamun has also become a state witness, the first accused to do so since the tribunal was set up in 2010.

Prosecutors have filed five counts against the accused, including failure to prevent murder, amounting to crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law. They have sought the death penalty if the accused are found guilty.

Prosecutors also asked the tribunal to confiscate the three defendants' assets if convicted and distribute them among the victims' families.

The defence, however, expressed hope for their acquittal. Hasina has denied all charges.

This will be the tribunal's first verdict on the atrocities committed during the uprising.

The court's delivery of the verdict is expected to be broadcast live on Bangladesh Television and private channels, subject to final approval by the tribunal.

Hasina is also facing three more cases at the ICT, two over enforced disappearances and one concerning the alleged mass killings at Motijheel's Shapla Chattar in 2013.

Kamal faces two enforced disappearance cases.

On July 2, ICT-1 sentenced Hasina to six months' simple imprisonment for contempt of court over remarks made during a phone conversation with a local leader about the tribunal.

The tribunal, for months, heard testimonies alleging she ordered mass killings.

After the uprising last year, a complaint alleging crimes against humanity against Hasina was filed with the ICT investigation agency. Investigators then opened a probe and, after completing it, submitted a report to the Chief Prosecutor's Office on May 12.

The prosecution submitted a 135-page charge sheet, accompanied by 8,747 pages of documents and evidence.

Formal charges against Hasina, Kamal, and Mamun were submitted to ICT-1 on June 1. The tribunal took cognisance of the case the same day and ordered the trial to begin.

On July 10, it framed charges against the accused.

Proceedings began on August 4 with the testimony from the first prosecution witness. Of the 81 witnesses listed, 54, including former IGP Mamun and the investigation officer, testified.

After the arguments closed on October 23, the tribunal fixed November 13 for setting the judgment date. On that day, the three-member bench, chaired by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, set November 17 for the verdict.

THE CHARGES

Count-1 charged the defendants with murder, attempted murder, torture, and other inhumane acts. They were accused of abetting, inciting, facilitating, being complicit in, and failing to prevent crimes committed against civilians by law enforcement and armed cadres of the Awami League and its affiliates.

Count-2 charges include ordering the use of lethal weapons, helicopters, and drones to subdue student protesters, with the accused allegedly guilty of superior command responsibility, complicity, facilitation, and conspiracy.

Count-3 relates to the murder of Begum Rokeya University student Abu Sayed on July 16, where they issued orders, incited, abetted, facilitated, conspired and were complicit in the crime.

Count-4 accuses the defendants of orchestrating the murder of six unarmed protesters in the capital's Chankharpul on August 5 by direct order, incitement, abetment, facilitation, complicity, and conspiracy.

Count-5 concerns the shooting dead of five protesters and the injury of another. It also accuses the three of burning the five dead bodies and another protester alive, with the defendants allegedly involved through complicity, facilitation, and instigation.