July killings: Charges pressed against eight cops at ICT

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 yesterday took cognisance of charges against eight police officers for crimes against humanity, marking a significant step forward in the trial process over offences committed during last year's July uprising.

The tribunal accepted the charges just hours after prosecutors, for the first time, pressed formal charges against then Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Habibur Rahman and his subordinates over the killings of six people in the capital's Chankharpul area on August 5 last year.

The accused face charges of conspiracy, incitement, abetment, and complicity in the murders that day, when tens of thousands of protesters marched in Dhaka, ultimately toppling the Sheikh Hasina-led administration and forcing her to flee to India. Four senior police officers face additional charges under the doctrine of command responsibility.

"The formal judicial proceedings concerning crimes against humanity committed in July–August last year have commenced today [yesterday] before the reconstituted tribunal," Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam told reporters after proceedings ended for the day.

The three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, fixed June 3 to resume the hearing. It also issued an arrest warrant against Habibur.

The other accused are Sudip Kumar Chakraborty, then DMP joint commissioner; Sha Alam Mohammad Akhtarul Islam, former additional deputy commissioner; Mohammad Imrul, former assistant commissioner of Ramna Zone of DMP; Arshad Hossain, former inspector (operation) at Shahbagh Police Station; and constables Sujon, Imaz Hossain, and Nasirul Islam.

Arshad, Sujon, Imaz, and Nasirul are in jail, while the others remain absconding.

On April 20, the investigation agency of the ICT submitted its probe report against the eight policemen over the killings.

The victims named in the case are Shahriar Khan Anas, Sheikh Mahdi Hasan Junayed, Mohammad Yakub, Rakib Hawlader, Ismamul Haque, and Manik Mia.

Tajul told the tribunal that the six young men had entered the capital as part of the March to Dhaka programme in support of the uprising. He said they were shot dead at close range by police using Chinese rifles.

According to the chief prosecutor, 40 to 50 officers had been deployed in the Chankharpul area to stop protesters from advancing towards the Shaheed Minar in the morning. While many police personnel may have been involved, not all have been named in the charges.

"Only those identified in video footage as directly using Chinese rifles to carry out the killings have been named in the charges," Tajul told the court.

He added that superior officers, including Habibur, Sudip, and Imrul, who either directly ordered the killings, were present at the scene and issued commands, or facilitated the crimes, have also been brought to justice.

Tajul said prosecutors submitted various pieces of evidence, including a voice recording of Hasina allegedly directing forces to use lethal weapons on protesters. The ousted prime minister, however, was not named as an accused in this case, as a separate probe report had been filed against her. Formal charges will be pressed in that case, he said.

The prosecution submitted digital evidence including video and audio recordings, documentary material, reports from national and international bodies, as well as witness statements, victim testimonies, and bullet fragments recovered from the victims' bodies. A letter written by victim Anas to his mother before fleeing home to join the uprising was read out in court and accepted as evidence.

ALLEGATIONS OF AL MISRULE

While presenting the charges, Tajul called the day historic. He outlined what he termed the Awami League's legacy of repression -- from forming the Rakkhi Bahini in 1972 and carrying out extrajudicial killings of JASAD members, to the formation of BAKSAL in 1975.

He accused the previous AL government of suppressing dissent through enforced disappearances and killings, citing around 700 disappearances. The charge sheet included allegations of election manipulation in 2008, 2014, 2018, and 2024 to retain power.

Tajul also highlighted corruption scandals involving AL ministers and MPs, including cases of human trafficking and gold smuggling. He accused the regime of politicising the judiciary -- forcing former chief justice SK Sinha into exile and using the courts to imprison opposition leader Khaleda Zia.

He referred to the 2009 Pilkhana massacre as a blow to both the country and the military, and accused the government of brutally suppressing the Hefazat-e-Islam movement in 2013 with media blackouts and mass killings.

The prosecution alleged that the AL regime exploited the spirit of the Liberation War to stigmatise devout Muslims and divide the population. Tajul said that the use of force to crush the quota reform movement resulted in the deaths of 1,400 students and civilians.

He said that on August 4, during the uprising, then speaker Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury and senior leaders urged Hasina to resign. But a group of four -- former ministers Obaidul Quader, Asaduzzaman Khan, Anisul Huq, and Hasina's adviser Salman F Rahman -- allegedly incited her to stay in power and use force to suppress the movement.

Tajul added that when the army refused to fire on civilians, Hasina reportedly told them to kill her instead and bury her inside Ganabhaban. Her sister Sheikh Rehana allegedly begged her to resign, which she refused until a phone call with her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, after which she agreed to step down.

HASINA'S CONTEMPT PROCEEDINGS

The tribunal has ordered that a summons be published in two widely circulated newspapers, instructing Hasina to appear before the court on June 3 or have her lawyer respond regarding the contempt of court allegations against her.

The allegation stems from a leaked phone conversation, allegedly between Hasina and Shakil Ahmed, a former upazila chairman in Gaibandha. In the recording, Hasina is heard saying, "I've been given a licence to kill 227 people" -- a statement the tribunal considers contemptuous.

Meanwhile, the tribunal extended the deadline until June 24 for completing the investigation into the Ashulia case, where six bodies were burned.