ICT issues arrest warrants against Sheikh Hasina, Tarique Siddique over enforced disappearance
Among the accused are five former directors general of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI)
Formal charges have been filed with the International Crimes Tribunal-1 against ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her security and defence adviser Major General (Retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, and 28 others over allegations of enforced disappearances during the Awami League rule.
Among the accused are five former directors general of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI).
After the prosecution submitted the charges today (8 October), the tribunal led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mojumder took cognisance of the case as well as issued arrest warrants against all the accused.
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According to prosecution sources, the charges name Sheikh Hasina as the prime accused in a crimes against humanity case involving the abduction and torture of opposition figures, who were allegedly detained in secret cells operated by the Rapid Action Battalion's Taskforce for Interrogation (TFI) during the Awami League's rule.
Chief Prosecutor Tazul Islam said two separate sets of formal charges were submitted to the registrar of the tribunal. One case accuses Hasina, Tarique Siddique, and 17 others of abduction and torture in the TFI cell, while the other involves Hasina, Tarique Siddique, and 13 others in similar offences committed in the JIC cell.
Tarique Ahmed Siddique, a retired major general of Bangladesh Army, was the defence and security adviser to the former prime minister Sheikh Hasina for long.
Sheikh Hasina fled to India with her sister Sheikh Rehana on 5 August last year in the face of a mass uprising led by students. She has been in India since then. However, the whereabouts of Tarique Siddique remain unknown.
