The International Crimes Tribunal-2 (ICT-2) has issued an arrest warrant against Awami League (AL) Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif and three others in a crimes against humanity case filed over the killing of six people in Kushtia during the July-August 2024 mass uprising.
The three others are Kushtia district AL President and former zilla parishad chairman Sadaruddin Khan, district AL general secretary Azgar Ali, and Kushtia city AL general secretary Ataur Rahman Ata.
All the four accused are on the run. The tribunal has asked the law enforcing agencies to arrest them and produce them before it on October 14 this year.
A three-member tribunal, headed by its Chairman Justice Md Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, passed the order after taking cognizance of the formal charge pressed against them. The tribunal said it found prima facie evidence against them and sufficient grounds to proceed with the trial.
Earlier on Sunday last, the prosecution pressed formal charges against them.
Prosecutor Mizanul Islam told the tribunal that acting on deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's directive to suppress the student and public-led movement. Hanif carried out the order through local AL leaders, party activists, and members of law enforcement agencies in Kushtia, which led to the fatal shooting of six protesters.
The prosecution also alleged that at a meeting held on July 27 last year at the Kushtia district AL office, Hanif, along with Azgar and Ataur, described the movement as a 'terrorist act' and ordered the use of maximum force to supress it.
bikashju@gmail.com