17 including former ministers brought to ICT over mass killings during July Uprising
Formal charges against Anisul Huq and Salman F Rahman include allegations of imposing curfew and authorising lethal force against students and civilians.
Seventeen people, including former ministers, state ministers and senior officials from the Sheikh Hasina regime, were produced before the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) today (8 December) in a case over murder and mass killings during the July Uprising.
The accused were transported under heavy security from Keraniganj, Kashimpur and other prisons shortly after 10am and escorted one by one into the tribunal's holding cell. ICT-1 is scheduled to hear the progress of the case later in the day.
Those presented before the court include former law minister Anisul Huq; former education minister Dr Dipu Moni; former state minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak; former textiles and jute minister Golam Dastagir Gazi; former industries minister Amir Hossain Amu; former food minister Qamrul Islam; former agriculture minister Abdur Razzaque; former shipping minister Shajahan Khan; Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon; Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JASAD) president and former information minister Hasanul Haq Inu; former justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik; former home secretary Jahangir Alam; former MPs Solaiman Selim and Faruk Khan; former PM's adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury; former investment adviser Salman F Rahman; and former state minister Kamal Ahmed Mojumder.
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The prosecution has submitted separate formal charges against Salman F Rahman, Anisul Huq, Hasanul Haq Inu and Zunaid Ahmed Palak, with witness testimony already underway in Inu's case.
ICT-1 has also accepted charges against Sajeeb Wazed Joy—son of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina—along with Palak, over allegations of orchestrating mass killing by ordering an internet shutdown during the July uprising. An arrest warrant has been issued for Joy.
Formal charges against Anisul Huq and Salman F Rahman include allegations of imposing curfew and authorising lethal force against students and civilians. Hearings on these charges have been scheduled.
In a separate case, the tribunal previously directed prosecutors to submit an investigation report against former bridges minister Obaidul Quader and 45 others by today. Despite earlier extensions, the report has not yet been submitted.
Security around the tribunal was heightened from early morning, with law enforcement agencies screening all individuals entering the premises.
