A court in Bangladesh has issued an arrest warrant for former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India on August 5, on charges of crimes against humanity allegedly committed during mass student protests in July and August of this year.
The warrant was issued today by the International Crimes Tribunal in its first hearing since being reorganised by the transitional government led by Muhammad Yunus.
The court also issued warrants for 45 other individuals, including Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader and other top leaders of Hasina’s political party, said Chief Prosecutor Advocate Tajul Islam at a press briefing in Dhaka.
The tribunal has instructed prosecutors to present Hasina in court by November 18.
Earlier this week, the tribunal signaled it might seek Interpol’s help to bring Hasina and other party members back to Bangladesh from abroad.
During the student-led protests, at least 736 people were killed, and over 20,000 were injured, many sustaining bullet wounds from clashes with police, other law enforcement, and Awami League supporters, according to the Health Ministry.
The tribunal has filed more than 60 complaints against Hasina, her Awami League party, and several former senior law enforcement officials, accusing them of forced disappearances, murders and even genocide.
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The violence followed a period of escalating discontent that ultimately ended the Awami League’s 15-year rule, prompting Hasina to seek refuge in neighbouring India.
Yunus was appointed to lead a transitional government with the mandate to guide the nation toward general elections, though no dates have yet been announced.
The tribunal, which previously prosecuted leaders of the opposition Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami for war crimes dating back to the 1971 independence conflict, has faced allegations of bias and was restructured by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus after the transitional government took office to restore credibility.
The new administration has also canceled eight national holidays associated with Hasina and her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the nation’s founding president. Those include August 15, formerly observed as National Mourning Day, commemorating the 1975 military coup in which most of Rahman’s family was killed.
