The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Sunday began the trial of former independent lawmaker for Dhaka-12, Muhammad Saiful Islam, along with 15 former police personnel, over the killing of nine protesters at Ashulia on the outskirts of Dhaka during the July 2024 mass uprising.
The three-member tribunal, led by retired High Court judge Nozrul Islam Chowdhury, began its second trial after chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam presented the opening statement, detailing the charges, evidence, and importance of the Ashulia crimes against humanity case.
At the end of the opening statement, the tribunal chair asked whether the tribunal had the jurisdiction to try armed forces members involved in the July uprising, as the question had been raised.
Chief prosecutor Tajul Islam responded promptly, saying that the matter had already been settled and the tribunal did have the jurisdiction.
He also referred to provisions in the tribunal鈥檚 law that confirmed its authority in such cases.
The tribunal has set Monday to begin recording testimonies of prosecution witnesses.
A total of 53 individuals have been listed to testify.
They include seven family members of the victims, four eyewitnesses, four injured survivors, seven聽 participants of the July mass uprising, two people who buried unidentified bodies, and four police witnesses.
Earlier, on August 21, the tribunal framed charges against all the 16 accused.
Eight arrested accused were present in the tribunal.
Among the accused, former Ashulia police sub-inspector Sheikh Afzalul Haque earlier admitted to his link to the killing of nine protesters and the burning of six bodies out of them on August 5, 2024.
He has since become a state witness, expressing his willingness to disclose the full details of the crime.
Afzal is the second police officer to have confessed involvement in the July 2024 killings.
Earlier, former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, made accused along with deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan for their alleged superior command responsibilities in the atrocities across the country during the July protest.
The seven other detained accused in the Ashulia case are dismissed additional superintendent of police Abdullah Al Kafi, former additional SP Md Shahidul Islam, Detective Branch聽 inspector Md Arafat Hossain Arju, sub-inspectors Arafat Uddin and Abdul Malek, ASI Kamrul Hasan and former constable Mukul Chowkder.
The eight fugitive accused, including former MP Saiful Islam, former deputy inspector general of police Nurul Islam, former SP Asaduzzaman Ripon, former additional SP Saidul Islam, former Ashulia police station officer-in-charge AFM Sayeed Roni, its former inspector (investigation) Mohammad Masudur Rahman, former inspector (operation) Nirmal Kumar Das, former ASI Biswajit Saha and one Rani Bhuiyan.
The chief prosecutor鈥檚 office received multiple complaints after the incident.
The ICT investigation agency opened its probe on October 6, 2024.
The formal charges were submitted by chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam on July 3, 2025.
Referring to the investigation report, chief prosecutor Tajul Islam questioned how far a person can fall from humanity 鈥� describing how someone could throw a burning cigarette or a dry piece of wood onto the bodies of six protesters already on fire.
The incident took place on August 5, 2024 shortly after Sheikh Hasina was deposed as prime minister and fled to India following the 36 days of the mass uprising.
According to the report, the accused burned the bodies of the six protesters putting them together on a police vehicle, allegedly in an attempt to blame the killings on ordinary students and public.
