Dhaka: The testimony and cross-examination of 12 witnesses have thus far been completed in a case linked to the July Uprising filed against the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and two others on charges of committing crimes against humanity. A three-member International Crimes Tribunal-1, headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Majumdar, has scheduled Wednesday as the next date for taking testimony after concluding the testimony and cross-examination of three witnesses in the case today.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, ICT Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam, along with Prosecutors Mizanul Islam and Gazi MH Tamim, conducted the hearing, with other ICT prosecutors present. State-appointed lawyer Amir Hossain represented the fugitive Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, while lawyer Zayed Bin Amjad represented former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun.
The ICT-1 framed charges against Sheikh Hasina, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, ordering the trial to begin on July 10. Additionally, the tribunal approved an application from former IGP Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun to become a state witness, aiming to uncover the truth by pleading guilty in this case.
On June 16, the ICT-1 ordered a notice to be published in both Bengali and English newspapers for the fugitive Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to appear before the tribunal. The notice, issued the following day, asked them to surrender within seven days. However, the two accused did not appear, prompting the state to appoint a lawyer to represent them during the proceedings.
The International Crimes Tribunal-1 took cognizance of the formal charges against the deposed Sheikh Hasina on June 1 for crimes against humanity during the student-led mass uprising in July-August of the previous year. The prosecution filed formal charges against Sheikh Hasina, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun.
The ICT was reconstituted after the Awami League government fell in the face of the student uprising on August 5 last year. The first case filed at the tribunal against Sheikh Hasina pertains to crimes against humanity committed during the mass uprising. In addition to the first case, two other cases against Sheikh Hasina exist in the tribunal: one involving accusations of disappearances and murders during her 15-and-a-half-year rule of the Awami League government, and another linked to the killings during attacks at a Hefazat-e-Islam rally at Shapla Chattar in Motijheel, the capital.