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The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has taken into cognisance the formal charges against ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and two others filed by the prosecution in a case over crimes against humanity committed during the mass uprising in July-August of last year. The tribunal also ordered authorities concerned to arrest fugitive accused Hasina and Kamal and produce them before the court.

 

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

 

The next hearing has been scheduled for 16 June.

 

Earlier in the day, the ICT prosecution team submitted the formal charges in the case against the trio.

 

The hearing was broadcast live, a first in the tribunal's history, on Bangladesh Television and the tribunal's Facebook page.

 

ICT Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam presented the final section, which included the basic charges. Prior to that, Prosecutor Mizanul Islam presented the first part of the charge sheet, and Prosecutor Abdus Sobhan Talukder presented additional portions.

 

According to the prosecution, there are five specific allegations against the accused. A total of 81 witnesses have been named. The charge documents comprise 2,018 pages across five volumes. A 145-page excerpt was presented during the hearing.

 

Following the filing of charges, Tajul conducted the hearing and addressed the court, saying, "This trial is not revenge for the past, it is a promise for the future. This court bears witness to a time that will remain a document in history.

"We want this trial to be neutral, evidence-based, and just."

Tajul also informed the court that the prosecution would present several forms of evidence in support of the charges.

 

These include recorded video testimonies of eyewitnesses and living victims, drone and CCTV footage, audio call records of conversations among the accused, forensic reports of digital evidence, confessionary statements, images and video clips circulated through mass and social media, and documentaries aired both nationally and internationally.

 

Lawyers have said that the live broadcast of the hearing marks a new chapter for the judiciary by promoting transparency. They noted that such broadcasting poses no legal barrier and may help strengthen public confidence in the process.

 

Previously, on 12 May, the tribunal's investigation agency submitted its report to the Chief Prosecutor's Office, naming Sheikh Hasina as the instigator of the killings during the uprising that toppled her government.

 

On 18 February, a three-member ICT bench, led by its Chairman Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mazumdar, had ordered the investigation to be completed by 20 April following a prosecution plea for additional time.

 

Additional Chief Prosecutor Mizanul Islam had represented the prosecution during that hearing.

 

The prosecution described the charges as marking the first formal case in the tribunal involving senior figures of the former Awami League government.