A special tribunal in Bangladesh has formally indicted the country’s ousted Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, accepting five charges of crimes against humanity tied to a violent mass uprising that left hundreds of students dead in 2024.
The three-judge panel, led by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, also charged former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun.
Hasina and Khan are facing trial in absentia.
The Awami League, Hasina’s political party, immediately denounced the tribunal’s move, labeling it a “kangaroo” court.
The tribunal commenced proceedings on June 5, issuing public notices through newspapers for Hasina and Khan, both believed to be in India, to appear. Hasina has remained in exile since August 5.
The interim government, under the leadership of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, has requested India to extradite Hasina, though New Delhi has yet to respond. Khan is also thought to be in India.
Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, however, was present in court and pleaded guilty. He indicated his willingness to cooperate with the prosecution in the future.
Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam informed journalists that Al-Mamun had asked to become an “approver”, a legal term for a defendant who confesses and agrees to testify against others in return for a potentially reduced sentence.
“The tribunal accepted his plea to be an approver,” Islam stated.
Meanwhile, protests have continued in the capital, where demonstrators recently gathered near a defaced mural of Sheikh Hasina, demanding justice for the student deaths during the 2024 unrest.
The prosecution presented evidence to the tribunal, including a leaked audio tape allegedly featuring Hasina, along with supporting documentation.
Lawyer Amir Hossain, appointed by the state to represent both Hasina and Khan, had petitioned the court to drop their names from the case. That request was dismissed.
The tribunal scheduled August 3 for the prosecution’s opening statement and August 4 for the beginning of witness testimonies.
In a post on X, the Awami League accused the interim administration of judicial overreach.
“People have lost their faith over the judicial system as Yunus regime has reduced this key state organ into a means to prosecute dissenters,” the party posted. “We condemn in strongest term the indictment against our party president and other leaders as we assert that this step marks another testament to the ongoing witch hunt against our party and weaponization of judiciary by Yunus regime.”
Describing Hasina as the “mastermind, conductor, and superior commander,” prosecutors said she orchestrated a brutal crackdown that resulted in widespread killings, injuries, assaults on women and children, burning of bodies, and denial of treatment to the injured.
The interim government has outlawed the Awami League and amended laws to pave the way for prosecuting the former ruling party for its actions during the uprising.
In February, the U.N. human rights office estimated as many as 1,400 people may have died during the three-week-long suppression of student-led protests and in the two weeks following Hasina’s removal from office.
Earlier this month, the tribunal sentenced Hasina to six months in jail for contempt of court, citing a leaked phone call in which she reportedly claimed to have the authority to “kill 227 people” in relation to the number of cases filed against her.
“There are 227 cases against me, so I now have a license to kill 227 people,” said the voice believed to be Hasina in the audio.
The same tribunal, established by Hasina’s own government in 2009 to investigate war crimes during the 1971 independence war against Pakistan, had previously tried and sentenced members of the Jamaat-e-Islami party.
Bangladesh, aided by India, won independence from Pakistan in 1971 under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s father and the country’s founding leader.
