Thirteen former high-ranking Bangladeshi authorities officers arrested following the August revolution appeared in courtroom Monday, charged with “enabling massacres.” Prosecutors additionally reiterated their calls for for the extradition of exiled former chief Sheikh Hasina.
Since Hasina’s regime collapsed, dozens of her allies have been detained, accused of involvement in a police crackdown that left greater than 700 lifeless throughout the unrest that led to her ouster.
Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam mentioned the 13 defendants – 11 former ministers, a choose and a former authorities secretary – are held accountable for the brutal crackdown on student-led protests that finally toppled the regime.
Hasina, who fled to her outdated ally India by helicopter on Aug. 5, was additionally due in courtroom in Dhaka on Monday to face fees of “massacres, killings, and crimes against humanity,” however she stays a fugitive in exile.
“We have produced 13 defendants today, including 11 former ministers, a bureaucrat and a judge,” Islam, the chief prosecutor of Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal, instructed reporters. “They are complicit in enabling massacres by participating in planning, inciting violence, ordering law enforcement officers to shoot on sight and obstructing efforts to prevent a genocide.”
Around half a dozen legal professionals supported the defendants, who had been introduced from custody and led into courtroom surrounded by a hoop of safety forces to separate them from the massive crowd exterior.
Hasina’s 15-year tenure noticed widespread human rights abuses, together with the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.
The fees the 13 face are to date restricted to the police crackdown on student-led protests, however Islam requested extra time to compile proof stretching again additional.
“The crimes that led to mass murders and genocide have occurred over the past 16 years across the country,” he instructed reporters.
The courtroom gave prosecutors till Dec. 17 to submit their investigation report.
‘Seeking help’
The defendants listened to the costs learn to them however weren’t but requested to enter a plea.
At one level, former business minister Kamal Ahmed Majumdar stood up and spoke, interesting to the choose that he needed “to say something,” an Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporter within the courtroom heard. He was not allowed to talk additional.
Others in courtroom included once-powerful ex-law minister Anisul Huq, former Supreme Court choose Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, and former power adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury.
Former social affairs minister Dipu Moni is the one lady among the many 13.
Islam mentioned efforts are being made to convey 77-year-old Hasina to Dhaka for trial, a day after interim chief Muhammad Yunus mentioned Bangladesh was in search of her extradition.
Islam mentioned that they had contacted Interpol “seeking assistance in arresting her, as she has committed crimes against humanity.”
Red notices issued by the worldwide police physique alert regulation enforcement companies worldwide about fugitives.
India is a member of Interpol, however the pink discover doesn’t imply New Delhi should hand Hasina over, as every nation applies its personal legal guidelines to find out whether or not an arrest needs to be made.
Source: www.dailysabah.com