The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Monday issued arrest warrants against Awami League joint general secretary and former lawmaker Mahbubul Alam Hanif and three other local leaders for their alleged involvement in committing crimes against humanity in Kushtia during the July uprising.
The tribunal, chaired by Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury, directed the inspector general of police to report by October 14 on the execution of the warrants.
The tribunal issued the warrant after taking into cognisance three charges against Hanif and his associates 鈥� Kushtia district AL president Md Sadar Uddin Khan, general secretary Md Ali Asgar Ali, and Kushtia town AL general secretary Ataur Rahman Ata.
The prosecution of the International Crimes Tribunals filed formal charges against them on Sunday.
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 鈥榤aximum force鈥� against protesters, terming them 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鈥檚 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 4:00pm that day, six people were shot dead in separate incidents across Kushtia. The victims were participating in or supporting the student-led 鈥楳arch to Dhaka鈥� programme.
This is the seventh such case now pending before the two International Crimes Tribunals reconstituted in September 2024 under the interim government to try offences committed during the mass uprising in July and August in 2024.
