A special tribunal has indicted Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by accepting charges of crimes against humanity filed against her in connection with a mass uprising in which hundreds of students were killed last year.
A three-member panel, headed by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, on Thursday indicted Hasina, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun on five charges.
Among the accused, Hasina and Khan are reportedly staying in India while former police chief Mamun is in custody.
The defendants did not have their own legal counsel present; instead, a state-appointed lawyer represented them during the hearing.
The former police chief has admitted to involvement in crimes against humanity committed during the uprising and now serves as a witness for the prosecution in the trial.
Use of lethal force
Earlier, on June 1, the tribunal formally accepted charges against the ousted leader for her alleged role in the July mass killings.
According to a report by the UN human rights office, up to 1,400 people were killed in the unrest between July and August 2024, including children, who accounted for 12 percent of the casualties.
A recent media investigation linked Hasina to the use of lethal force during the uprising that led to the fall of her government, intensifying calls for her deportation from India to face trial.
Hasina has been in India since her government was ousted on Aug. 5. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus later formed a transitional government, which has formally requested her return. Delhi, however, has yet to respond affirmatively.
