The International Crimes Tribunal-3 (ICT) on Monday took the formal charge against Awami League joint general secretary and former lawmaker Mahbubul Alam Hanif and three others intocognizancefor crimes against humanity during the July uprising.
The tribunal also issued an arrest warrant against them as they are fugitive.
The other accused are Kushtia district Awami League president Md Sadar Uddin Khan, general secretary Md Ali Asgar Ali and Kushtia town Awami League general secretary Ataur Rahman Ata.
October 14 was fixed by the tribunal to produce the fugitive accused before it.
After the order, chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam said three charges were brought against Hanif and three others which the ICT took into cognizance and passed the arrest order.
According to the first charge, Hanif and the three leaders met at the Kushtia Awami League office on July 27, 2024, and allegedly ordered their followers to use ‘maximum force’ against protesters, branding them as criminals.
The second charge states that Hanif, along with Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader, made inflammatory remarks at a press conference at the party president’s political office in Dhanmondi on July 15, 2024.
They allegedly claimed that the Awami League and Chhatra League were capable of containing the student movement and described the protesters as members of Jamaat-e-Islami, criminals, and communal forces.
The statements were intended to justify the violence, the prosecution claimed.
The third charge alleged that, on August 5, 2024, Hanif and the three Kushtia leaders coordinated an attack on unarmed protesters, during which party activists, with police support, opened fire.
Between 1:30PM and 4PM that day, six people were shot dead in separate incidents across Kushtia.
The victims were participating in or supporting the student-led ‘March to Dhaka’ programme.
Staff Reporter : 
