Dhaka: Thirteen officials of the Bangladesh Army were produced before the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) today in connection with two cases involving enforced disappearances and torture at the Taskforce for Interrogation (TFI) Cell and the Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC) during the tenure of the past Awami League government.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the accused include Md Jahangir Alam, Tofayel Mostafa Sarwar, Md Qamrul Hasan, Md Mahabub Alam, KM Azad, Abdullah Al Momen, Md Moshiur Rahman Jewel, Saiful Islam Suman, Md Sarwar Bin Qashem, Anwar Latif Khan, Sheikh Md Sarwar Hossain, Md Mahbubur Rahman Siddiqui, and Ahmed Tanvir Mazhar Siddiqui. The officers, dressed in plainclothes, were brought to the tribunal in a specialized prison van at around 10 am, amid heightened security in and around the court premises. They were individually escorted from the olive-colored van to the tribunal lockup on the ground floor of the main building.
A significant deployment of security forces, including police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and Armed Police Battalion (APBN), was observed surrounding the tribunal area. On October 22, ICT-1 had sent the 13 accused, along with two other army officers, Mohammad Redwanul Islam and Rafat Bin Alam, who face charges in a separate crimes against humanity case, to jail.
The three-member tribunal, chaired by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, also issued orders for the publication of notices in one English and one Bengali newspaper, directing fugitive accused in the three cases to appear before the court. Earlier, on October 8, the ICT-1 acknowledged charges against 30 accused, including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, in two cases related to enforced disappearances and torture.
In one of the cases, the prosecution filed five charges against 13 individuals, including Sheikh Hasina and her former security and defense adviser Tarique Ahmed Siddique, for crimes committed at the JIC. The other accused in this case are Md Akbar Hossain, Md Saiful Abedin, Md Saiful Alam, Md Tabrej Shams Chowdhury, Hamidul Haque, Mohammad Touhidul Islam, Sheikh Md Sarwar Hossain, Kabir Ahmed, Md Mahbubur Rahman Siddiqui, Ahmed Tanvir Mazhar Siddiqui, and Mokhchurul Haque.
Another set of five charges was filed against 17 individuals, including Sheikh Hasina and Tarique Ahmed Siddique, for crimes committed at the TFI. The remaining accused in this case include former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, former inspector general of police Benazir Ahmed, M Khurshid Hossain, Barrister Md Harun Ur Rashid, Anwar Latif Khan, Md Jahangir Alam, Tofayel Mostafa Sarwar, KM Azad, Md Qamrul Hasan, Md Mahabub Alam, Abdullah Al Momen, Md Sarwar Bin Qashem, Md Khairul Islam, Md Moshiur Rahman Jewel, and Saiful Islam Suman.