The father of As Sabur, one of six protesters who were shot and then burnt to death together, testified before the International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Sunday.
They were burnt in a police pickup parked beside the Ashulia police station on August 5, 2024 during the July uprising.
Sabur鈥檚 father named Anab Najez Zaki, 60, testified as the 10th prosecution witness in the crime against humanity case against deposed former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, then home minister Asaduzzaman Khan -- both fugitive -- and then inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, who is now an approver, for their superior command responsibilities for the July atrocities committed across the country.聽聽聽
The tribunal has so far recorded 12 prosecution witnesses in the case.
The father in his deposition demanded that Sheikh Hasina and those other involved in the crime be punished in the same brutal manner as his son was killed 鈥� shot and burned.
He told the tribunal that his son was killed by police personnel, including the then officer-in-charge of the Ashulia police station, sub-inspectors, and constables.
He said that they were aided and abetted by Dhaka North deputy police commissioner Abdullahel Kafi, Detective Branch (Savar Zone) inspector Arafat Hossain, and then local lawmaker Saiful Islam.
According to him, the killing took place under the direct orders from Sheikh Hasina, also the Awami League president, along with AL general secretary Obaidul Quader, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, and then inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun.
The grieving father broke down in tears in the witness box when a video of the gruesome incident 鈥攕ix bullet-hit protesters were being burnt on a police pickup 鈥� was played in the courtroom.
He had submitted the video as evidence to the tribunal.
The footage showed the bullet-riddled bodies being lifted onto a rickshaw, one by one, by holding their hands and legs.
In the next scene, the bodies were stacked onto a police van and set afire using petrol and dry wood.
The father, a retired garment employee hailing from Naogon district, identified his son from the video, stating that his son鈥檚 head was visibly hanging from the edge of the rickshaw as the bodies lay covered with a bed sheet.聽聽
Describing his son as a brilliant student, the father in pain told the tribunal that Sabur had taken part in the protests unarmed when he was shot and later set afire with others in police custody.
The three-member International Crimes Tribunal-1, led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder and comprising Justice Md Shofiul Alam Mahmood and retired judge Md Mohitul Hoque Anam Chawdhury, on Monday recorded testimonies of two more witnesses in the ongoing trial over the 2024 July uprising.
The tribunal adjourned the hearing until Wednesday morning for recording the statements of two physician witnesses.
One of the witnesses, Rabiul Awal Bhuiyan, is the elder brother of Imam Hasan Taim, who was shot dead on July 20, 2024, near the Kajla foot over-bridge at Jatrabari in the capital.
The second witness, Jasim Uddin, had actively participated in the uprising at Rajshahi University鈥檚 main gate on August 5, 2024.
He testified that he carried two bullet-hit protesters to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared them dead.
Rabiul presented the video evidence to the tribunal showing police officers continuing to shoot at his younger brother even after he had collapsed from earlier gunshots.
In the footage, a fellow protester tried to lift the injured Imam Hasan Taim but was also shot in the leg by police.
Rabiul testified that his brother was hit by dozens of projectiles fired from a pipe gun. He added that their father, who is also police officer, was heard asking a superior over the phone as to how many bullets were needed to kill a person.
He accused sub-inspector Sazzaduzzaman of first shooting Imam in the leg, followed by ADC Shamim, who allegedly took a weapon from another officer and fired at Imam鈥檚 abdomen.
OC (Investigation) Zakir Hossain was also named as one of the officers who fired multiple shots at Imam.
Rabiul named several high-ranking police officers who were present during the shooting, including joint commissioners Sudip Kumar Chatterjee and Proloy, Wari Zone deputy commissioner Iqbal, ADC Masudur Rahman Monir, AC Nahid, AC Tanzil, OC Abul Hasan, and OC (Operations) Wahidul Haque Mamun.
He also demanded accountability from the then Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Habibur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, then IGP Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, and the then home secretary, for what he described as their command responsibility in the killing.
Witness Jasim Uddin also demanded punishment for Rajshahi mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, the Rajshahi Metropolitan Police commissioner, and local Awami League leaders for the violence in the city during the uprising.
