A Bangladeshi special tribunal on Thursday legally indicted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a case concerning deaths of activists whose protests led to the downfall of her government on August 5 last year.
The court, set up to prosecute crimes against humanity, received indictments against Hasina in connection with a huge student protest that caused hundreds of deaths.
The three-judge bench, presided over by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, also indicted former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun on five charges. Both Hasina and Khan are facing trial in absentia, AFP reports.
These revelations come in the wake of a BBC report that emerged recently, alleging that Hasina issued direct orders to unleash a fatal operation against protesters in 2024. The pillar of the prosecution case is a leaked audio recording, purportedly quoting Hasana ordering security personnel to fire on protesters.
On July 18, 2024, audio emerged in which a voice—purportedly Hasina's—speaks of security forces "using lethal weapons" and shooting "wherever they find (them)." The BBC, a UK government-funded broadcaster, quoted forensic audio experts as finding no trace of tampering or artificial creation in the recording, lending authenticity to the claim.
Hasina's Awami League party responded by dismissing the accusations, stipulating that its leaders, including the former prime minister, did not have a direct hand in the employment of deadly force. According to the BBC, a party spokesperson said, "The Awami League completely denies and rejects suggestions that some of its senior leaders, including the prime minister herself, were directly responsible for or ordered the use of lethal force on crowds."
The official also added, "The actions taken by the senior government officials were proportionate in nature, done in good faith and aimed to reduce the loss of lives." The party, in a report by AFP, also blamed the casualties on slip-ups in discipline among some security personnel who acted on their own during violent clashes.
While that is going on, the caretaker government headed by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus reiterated its call for India to extradite Hasina. In response to the BBC's report, the government's spokesperson Shafiqul Alam said on Wednesday, "We call upon India to act with conscience and moral clarity. For too long India has defied Bangladesh's lawful request for Hasina's extradition. India can no longer shield her."
He said no political history or strategic interest must be permitted to overshadow the "deliberate murder" of civilians.
A United Nations report on human rights estimates that up to 1,400 were killed between July 15 and August 15, 2024, in a broad crackdown on opposition under Hasina's leadership. Numerous leading figures in the Awami League, such as senior leaders, have been arrested or gone into hiding as the caretaker leadership continues its initiative to reinstate accountability.
As of now, the Indian government has not made any official statement in response to the latest call for extradition.
Read also| Awami League Denounces 'False and Distorted' Media Report Targeting Sheikh Hasina
Read also| Trump Claimed He Threatened to 'Bomb Moscow' in Warning to Putin Over Ukraine Invasion
