Sheikh Hasina wanted for her alleged role in enforced disappearances, says chief prosecutor
A Bangladeshi court issued a second arrest warrant for exiled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, this time for her alleged role in enforced disappearances, the chief prosecutor said on Monday.
The International Crimes Tribunal, established by Hasina during her administration to try crimes against humanity, also issued warrants for 11 other close allies of Hasina, mainly in the security forces, and asked the authorities to produce them before the court by Feb. 12.
Hasina fled India in an uprising on Aug. 5. A transitional government headed by Muhammad Yunus took office on Aug. 8.
The Yunus-led government said it will do everything possible to bring Hasina and her allies to justice through proper trial for killing over 1,500 people and injuring over 22,000 others in the uprising.
Hasina, however, repeatedly denied the allegations.
Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder issued the order in response to an application from the prosecution.
Hasina's former defense advisor Maj. Gen. (Retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique and former inspector general of police, Benazir Ahmed, are among those named in the charges.
“A horrible culture (forced disappearance) had begun in the country during the Hasina regime. And giving justice to the victim families through a proper trial can be the right way to end this horrible practice,” Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam of the tribunal told reporters.
Earlier, the same tribunal issued an arrest warrant for Sheikh Hasina in a case alleging genocide committed during the student-led uprising that ousted Hasina.
Bangladesh, in the meantime, made a formal request to India to send Hasina back to face the trial.
“Year after year, people were detained in secret prisons and tortured and killed. This is a crime against humanity under the national and international law. And that crime was organized under the direct orders of ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,” Islam alleged.
Earlier, the report submitted by the Commission of Inquiry into Forced Disappearances, formed by the Yunus government, found evidence of Hasina's involvement as an “instructor” in forced disappearances reported during her 15-year rule.
