International Crimes Tribunal 1 on Wednesday sent the 15 detained serving army officers to jail in three cases of crimes against humanity, two for enforced disappearances during the fallen Awami League regime and the other for 2024 July uprising atrocities.
The officers worked in the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, the Rapid Action Battalion and the Border Guard Bangladesh during the Awami League regime.
They were produced before the three-member tribunal, chaired by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, minutes after 8:15am, and the tribunal passed the order after hearing the cases briefly.
The tribunal directed the jail authorities to keep the army officers detained, noting that the determination of the place of detention was not within the tribunal鈥檚 jurisdiction.
They were later taken to a sub-jail in Dhaka Cantonment, where they are being provided class I prisoners鈥� facilities, said additional inspector general of prisons Jahangir Kabir.
The accused arrived at the tribunal premises in an air-conditioned prison bus, escorted by heavy police security, at about 7:15am. The US embassy in Dhaka donated the air-conditioned bus to the Bangladesh Prisons in 2023.
Among the 15 detained officers, one is a major general, six are brigadier generals, three are colonels, four are lieutenant colonels, and the remaining one is a major.
Major General Kabir Ahmed, a former director of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence and the Counter Terrorism and Intelligence Bureau, is the only serving senior officer who is absconding in one of the cases.
The detained officers were brought to the dock in three groups, 10 in one case, three in another, and two in the remaining case. The cases were heard separately within 15 minutes.
A four-member defence team led by Advocate M Sarwar Hossain, a retired army major, represented the accused.
Journalists were allowed to enter the courtroom after the judges took their seats.
During the hearing, tribunal chair Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder called out the names of the accused one by one, and each responded while standing.
Chief prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam read out the charges of their superior command responsibilities regarding enforced disappearances as stated in the formal charges, filed on October 8.
According to the prosecution, one case involves 17 accused over enforced disappearances and torture at a secret detention centre inside the RAB headquarters. Another case names 13 accused, including deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and former defence adviser Major General (retired) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, for similar crimes committed inside the DGFI compound in Dhaka Cantonment.
Hasina and Tarique Ahmed Siddique are common accused in both cases. As a result, the number of accused in the two cases stands at 28.
The third case accuses four people, including two detained army officers and two absconding police personnel, of killings in the capital鈥檚 Rampura area during the July uprising.
The three cases accuse 32 people, including 16 serving army officers. One of the serving officers is absconding. Besides, Sheikh Hasina, her home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, three former directors general of Rapid Action Battalion who worked there from the police, nine former army officials, and two police personnel are still absconding in the cases.
Chief prosecutor Md Tajul Islam told the tribunal that investigators found evidence of enforced disappearance and torture of 26 people inside the Joint Interrogation Cell, commonly known as Aynaghar, which had 22 secret cells used to hold detainees unlawfully.
Defence lawyer Sarwar Hossain told the tribunal that all the accused were serving army officers with UN peacekeeping experience and had voluntarily surrendered in compliance with the tribunal鈥檚 arrest warrants.
He filed three petitions seeking bail, permission for virtual appearances in future hearings, and the right to meet their counsel. The tribunal kept all the petitions on record without immediate order.
Sarwar later told reporters that his clients respected the tribunal鈥檚 authority by surrendering voluntarily, unlike others who fled abroad.
Meanwhile, families of victims of enforced disappearance expressed mixed reactions.
Some welcomed the arrests and court appearances, while others protested what they called 鈥榩rivileged treatment鈥� of the accused as the accused officers were transported in air-conditioned vehicles and held in special jails.
The accused appeared calm but visibly tense on the dock.
A large number of police and other law enforcement personnel were deployed in and around the tribunal from early morning ahead of the hearings in the three crimes against humanity cases involving 28 accused, including the 15 detained serving army officers.
Of them, 10 arrested army officers who served in the RAB-1 in its headquarters in capital, have been made accused among 17 individuals including deposed prime Sheikh Hasina, her defense adviser Tarique Ahmed Siddique, also a retired major general, and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan in a crime against humanity case over enforced disappearance of 13 citizens including Supreme Court lawyer Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem Arman, son of executed war crimes convict Mir Quasem Ali.
The detained 10 army officers in the case are Colonel AKM Azad, Colonel Abdullah Al Momen, Lieutenant Colonel Mashiur Rahman Jewel, Brigadier General Kamrul Hasan, Brigadier General Md Mahbub Alam, Brigadier General Tofayel Mostafa Sarwar, Lieutenant Colonel Anwar Latif Khan, Brigadier General Md Jahangir Alam, Lieutenant Colonel Sarwar Bin Kashem, and Lieutenant Colonel Saiful Islam Suman.
The four other absconding accused in the case are retired lieutenant colonel Muhammad Khairul Islam and Rapid Action Battalion鈥檚 former directors general Benazir Ahmed, barrister Harun-or-Rashid and Khurshid Hossen.
The tribunal ordered publishing advertisements in two national dailies, one in Bangla and the other in English, asking Hasina and six others to surrender to the tribunal by November 20 to face the charges against them.
In another crime against humanity case over enforced disappearances of 26 citizens, including suspended Brigadier General Abdullahil Amaan Azmi, son of former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Ghulam Azam, Humam Quader Chowdhury, son of BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, and United People鈥檚 Democratic Front leader Michael Chakma, between 2016 and August 5, 2024, a total of 13 individuals including Hasina, Tarique Siddique and three detained serving army officers, have been made accused.
The three serving officers, Brigadier General Ahmed Tanvir Mazhar Siddique, Major General Sheikh Md Sarwar Hossain, and Brigadier General Mahbub Rahman Siddique, were produced together in the same courtroom in the enforced disappearance case.
Eight army officers, including a serving officer and seven retired officers, are absconding in the case.
The absconding serving officer is Major General Kabir Ahmed while the seven absconding former officers are five former DGFI directors general retired Lieutenant General Md Akbar Hossain, retired Major General Md Saiful Abedin, retired Lieutenant General Md Saiful Alam, retired Lieutenant General Ahmed Tabrez Shams Chowdhury and retired Major General Hamidul Huq, former DGFI director retired major general Mohammad Towhidul-Ul Islam, and retired lieutenant colonel Mokhsurul Haq.
The five former DGFI DGs have been sent on forced retirement after the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina regime, according to the prosecution.
The tribunal also ordered the publication of advertisements in two national newspapers asking the 10 absconding accused to surrender to the tribunal by November 20 to face the charges in the case.
Two other arrested officers, Lieutenant Colonel Ridwanul Islam and Major Rifat Bin Alam Moon, who were serving in the Border Guard Bangladesh during the July 2024 mass uprising, were produced in a separate case over the murders of 28 people during the movement at Rampura in the capital on July 18, 2024 and July 19, 2024.
The court also ordered the publication of notices in two national newspapers, asking two absconding police members to appear before the tribunal by November 4 to face the charges in the case.
On October 8, the ICT-1, headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, issued arrest warrants against the 28 accused after the chief prosecutor filed charges of crimes against humanity over the alleged enforced disappearance of dozens of citizens during the ousted Awami League regime. The tribunal on the day fixed October 22 for further order.
Following the filing of formal charges on October 8, Bangladesh Army adjutant general Major General Md Hakimuzzaman told a press conference on October 10 that all 15 accused serving officers were directed to report to the Dhaka Cantonment. Fourteen have complied with the order, while one officer is on post-retirement leave.
A home ministry notification issued on October 11 declared 鈥楳ES Building No 54鈥�, north of Basher Road, in Dhaka Cantonment, as a temporary prison facility for the accused.
