Bangladeshi ex-ministers face ‘massacre’ charges in court

DHAKA - Thirteen former top government officials in Bangladesh appeared in court on Nov 18 for “enabling massacres”, with prosecutors repeating extradition demands for exiled ex-leader Sheikh Hasina.

Dozens of Ms Hasina’s allies have been arrested since her regime collapsed in August, accused of involvement in a police crackdown that killed more than 700 people during the unrest that led to her ouster.

Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam said the 13 defendants – who included 11 former ministers, a judge and an ex-government secretary – were accused of command responsibility for the deadly crackdown on the student-led protest.

Ms Hasina, who fled to India by helicopter on Aug 5, was also due in court in Dhaka on Nov 18 to face charges of “massacres, killings, and crimes against humanity”, but she remained a fugitive.

“(The defendants) are complicit in enabling massacres by participating in planning, inciting violence, ordering law enforcement officers to shoot on sight, and obstructing efforts to prevent a genocide,” Mr Islam, the chief prosecutor of Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal, told reporters.

Around half a dozen lawyers supported the defendants, who were brought from custody and led into court surrounded by a ring of security forces to separate them from the large crowd outside.

Ms Hasina’s 15-year tenure saw widespread human-rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.

The charges the 13 face are so far limited to the police crackdown on student-led protests, but Mr Islam requested more time to compile evidence stretching back further.

“The crimes that led to mass murders and genocide have occurred over the past 16 years across the country,” he told reporters.

The court gave prosecutors until Dec 17 to submit their investigation report.

‘Seeking assistance’

The defendants listened to the charges read to them but were not asked yet to give a plea.

At one point, former industry minister Kamal Ahmed Majumdar stood up and spoke, appealing to the judge that he wanted “to say something”, an AFP reporter in the court heard.

He was not allowed to speak further.

Others in court included the once-powerful law minister Anisul Huq, former Supreme Court judge Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, and former energy adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury.

Former social affairs minister Dipu Moni was the only woman among the 13.

Mr Islam said efforts are being made to bring 77-year-old Hasina to Dhaka for trial, a day after interim leader Muhammad Yunus said Bangladesh was seeking her extradition.

Mr Islam said they had contacted Interpol “seeking assistance in arresting her, as she has committed crimes against humanity”.

Red notices issued by the global police body alert law enforcement agencies worldwide about fugitives.

India is a member of Interpol, but the red notice does not mean New Delhi must hand Ms Hasina over, as each country applies its own laws on whether an arrest should be made. AFP