Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal indicted a former police commissioner and seven other policemen for their purported crimes during last year’s protests against the government.
Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal on Sunday officially charged former Dhaka police commissioner Habibur Rahman Habib and seven other policemen with alleged crimes committed during last year’s anti-government protests.
The demonstrations, culminating in the demise of then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s administration, were marred by widespread violence. It is the tribunal’s first case related to mass killings and human rights abuses during the July 2024 uprising.
A three-judge tribunal bench, presided over by Justice M Golam Mortuza, heard the prosecution charges and fixed the hearing to start on June 3. There are reasons to consider the formal charges,” Prothom Alo daily newspaper quoted the bench.
The charges say that the then Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Habib, who is currently on the run, had instructed subordinates to fire upon demonstrating mobs at the Chankharpul spot in old Dhaka. Besides Habib, three others are on the run and four are behind bars. The four were present as the tribunal received the charge.
Hasina, currently in India, and some of her cabinet and party members are also charged with the same offence. The move by the tribunal came as government officials for the second day in a row held protests within the Bangladesh Secretariat on Sunday against the draft Government Service (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025.
The protesters have been agitating for censure of its withdrawal, labelling it a black law which facilitated the government authorities to take punitive actions and discharge the government employees. Interim Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’s cabinet sanctioned the law last week and now waits for assent by the President.
