Virtual Verdict on Hasina: Tribunal Tallies UN Testimony and Telephonic Proofs

Based on the UN report on killings committed in July and August, and on the basis of telephonic audio, video, and other evidence, the International Crimes Tribunal has found proof of the planned and extensive involvement of the deposed and fugitive Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. As three of the five charges brought against her have been proven, she has been sentenced to life imprisonment in one case and to death in the remaining three cases. The same sentence has been handed down to her associate and key ally in this process, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.

In addition, former IGP Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun has been sentenced to five years in prison after appearing before the court as a state witness and seeking pardon.

The order also mentions confiscation of all movable and immovable properties of the two convicts, along with directives for assistance to the families of those martyred or injured in the July uprising. The tribunal made no comment regarding a ban on the Awami League.

On 17 November, Monday, the verdict was delivered by a three-member judicial panel of Tribunal-1 headed by Chairman Justice Golam Murtuza Majumdar. The other two members were Justice Shafiul Alam Mahmood and Justice Mohitul Haque Enam Chowdhury.

During the pronouncement of the verdict, the court stated that evidence had been presented regarding telephonic orders instructing party activists and law enforcement agencies to use lethal weapons against unarmed protesters. Over nearly three hours of reading out the verdict, the court said it analyzed the pen drives and CDs containing those conversations and confirmed that they were not AI-generated. As evidence, video footage and reports from Indian newspaper Anandabazar, the YouTube channel DeshSamay, and several Bangladeshi newspapers and TV outlets were also presented.

After the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August 2024, the International Crimes Tribunal was reconstituted. The first case heard by the reconstituted tribunal was against Sheikh Hasina over charges of crimes against humanity during the July mass uprising. The tribunal began proceedings on 17 October last year, and on that very day, a warrant of arrest was issued against her.

DBTech/IH/OR