The International Crimes Tribunal-1 has ordered the publication of newspaper notices directing former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 16 others to appear before the court in connection with three separate cases of crimes against humanity.

The order was issued on Wednesday by a three-member bench of the tribunal, headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Majumder.

Earlier in the day, 15 army officers accused in the same cases were brought to the tribunal around 7am in an air-conditioned prison van.

They were initially kept in the tribunal’s holding cell before being produced in the courtroom at 8am, shortly before the judges took their seats.

As the tribunal called the names of the accused one by one, each stood up to confirm their presence.

After the hearing, the tribunal ordered that all 15 be sent back to prison.

However, since Sheikh Hasina, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and former defence adviser to the prime minister Major General (Retd) Tariq Ahmed Siddique, along with 14 others, remain absconding, the tribunal directed that public notices be published in national newspapers instructing them to appear before the court.