Two prosecution witnesses in the case of crimes against humanity committed in the capital鈥檚 Chankharpool area during the 2024 July uprising on Tuesday testified before the International Crimes Tribunal-1 and demanded justice for the killings and injuries of protesters during the movement.
The three-member tribunal, led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, recorded the statements of Sheikh Jamal Hasan, the father of slain class VII student Sheikh Mehedi Hasan Zunayed who was also known as Mostakim, as the third prosecution witness.
Zunayed is one of the six protesters who were shot dead at Chankharpool on August 5, 2024, the day when the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime was ousted amid the mass uprising.
The tribunal adjourned the hearing until Wednesday morning.
Earlier in the day, the tribunal rejected senior lawyer ZI Khan Panna鈥檚 request to be appointed as a state defence counsel for deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, stating that there was no such scope as her trial was underway and a counsel had already been appointed to defend her.
Hasina is facing trial in absentia over her alleged superior command responsibility in the atrocities committed during the uprising.
The second prosecution witness in the case, Anjuara Yasmin, an associate professor of the Social Welfare Department of Sheikh Borhanuddin Post Graduate College in Old Dhaka, said that she participated in the students-led movement and supported and facilitated the students of the college to join the movement.
Both the witnesses alleged that thousands of protesters were killed and many others injured under direct orders from the then prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader, the then home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, the then inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, and the then Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Habibur Rahman.
The eight accused in the case are DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman, former joint commissioner Sudip Kumar Chakraborty, former Ramna additional deputy commissioner Shah Alam Md Akhterul Islam, former Ramna assistant commissioner Mohammad Imrul, Shahbagh police inspector Ashrad Hossain, and suspended APBn constables Sujan Hossain, Imaz Hossain Imon, and Nasirul Islam.
Of them, detained Arshad, Sujan, Imaz and Nasirul were in the dock.
The claims, the witnesses said, were based on information they later learned from news reports and social media.
Jamal Hasan, the father of slain student Mostakim, said that all his family members, including his wife, daughter, and son Mostakim, were involved in the protests.
Mostakim was a student of Gandaria Willpower School, and his sister, Nafisa Nawal, studied at Motijheel Ideal School and College.
On the morning of August 5, 2024, Jamal stayed home in Gandaria and the rest of the family joined the protests.
Later that day, Mostakim was shot near the then Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.
A bullet entered through his left eye and exited through the back of his head, leaving a deep wound.
Mostakim鈥檚 friend Siam and others rushed him to Mitford Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
According to the father, the hospital staff warned that the body would be handed over to Anjuman Mofidul Islam as an unidentified one, in line with a directive allegedly issued by prime minister Hasina, if the body was not collected quickly.
The family took his body from the hospital and held a funeral at their home.
The bodies of Mostakim and another victim, class X student Shahriar Khan Anas, were buried at Jurain Graveyard later, the witness said.
Anas had been shot the same day at the Chakharpool area.
The grieving father claimed that 40 to 50 police officers opened fire on the peaceful protesters at Chankharpool under orders from top political and police officials.
He identified several officers by name, including former DMP joint commissioner Sudip Kumar Chakrabarty, former Ramna Zone ADC Akhterul Islam, and police officers Imrul and Ershad.
He stated that six protesters, including his son, were killed in the shooting. Fighting back tears, he recalled watching video footage of his son鈥檚 death.
He later learnt from a media report that constable Sujan had fired the fatal shot. His son, he said, was a Hafez (Quran memorizer).
鈥業 demand execution of those who killed my innocent son,鈥� he said in his emotional testimony.
The second prosecution witness, associate professor Anjuara Yasmin of the Chankharpool area
said that she had witnessed the shooting from the rooftop of her 10-storey building.
She submitted that the Awami League activists took position at the side of her college on Nazimuddin Road in Old Dhaka, while the student protesters were at the side of Shahidullah Hall of the University of Dhaka. 鈥楾hey chased each other.鈥�
She said that she was awakened early on August 5, 2024 by the sound of gunfire and sound grenades. From her vantage point, she recorded video on her smartphone and saw a blood-soaked body lying on Nimtoli Lane.
She said that she later learnt that a student from her college, Shovon, had been shot dead in the New Market area.
At the outset of Tuesday鈥檚 proceedings, Supreme Court lawyer Naznin Nahar on Panna鈥檚 behalf filed an application seeking ZI Khan to be appointed as Hasina鈥檚 defence lawyer.
Panna is currently defending several Awami League leaders charged with crimes against humanity linked to the July 2024 attacks on protesters.
The tribunal noted that a defence lawyer had already been appointed for Hasina and said that there was no scope to appoint Panna at this stage of the trial.
However, it added that his appointment could be considered in future cases and asked him to submit his bio-data to the tribunal鈥檚 registrar, if needed.
