Chief prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam on Tuesday argued that disciplinary actions taken by different universities against pro-Awami League teachers and Chhatra League activists for attacking student protesters proved deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 command responsibility for the widespread atrocities during the July uprising.
Tajul made the remarks on the third day of his arguments before the International Crimes Tribunal-1 in the crimes against humanity case against absconding Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, and detained former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun.
Hasina and Asaduzzaman are facing the trial in absentia and Mamun has now become a state evidence.
Citing internal inquiry reports from Dhaka University, Rajshahi University, Jahangirnagar University, and Chattogram University, Tajul said that disciplinary measures taken against ruling party activists and teachers for attacks on protesters on July 15, 2024, demonstrated Hasina鈥檚 role in provoking and directing the violence.
He submitted that Hasina鈥檚 comments at July 14, 2024 press conference at Ganabhaban, where she called Anti-Discrimination Student Movement protesters 鈥榮ons and grandchildren of Razakars鈥�, directly incited the subsequent attacks.
The prosecutor also presented video footage showing violent attacks on peaceful protesters across the country by pro-Awami League leaders, activists, and law enforcement personnel at the instigation of the remarks made by Hasina, also the Awami League president,聽 and the party鈥� general secretary and the then minister, Obaidul Quader.
Referring to the second charge against the deposed prime minister, Tajul said that she had conspired and planned to use lethal weapons, drones, and helicopters to suppress the protests.
He cited phone conversations recorded on July 14, 2024 between Hasina and the then Dhaka University vice-chancellor Professor ASM Maksud Kamal in which she allegedly described the protesters as 鈥榬azakars鈥� who 鈥榮hould be hanged or killed.鈥�
According to the charge, Hasina said that she had already ordered law enforcement agencies, including the police, Rapid Action Battalion, and Border Guard Bangladesh, to open fire on protesters.
Another recorded phone call on July 18, 2024, allegedly showed Hasina instructing her nephew, the then Dhaka South City Corporation mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, to use live ammunition, drones, and helicopters against unarmed demonstrators.
The charge further alleges that, following her directives, security forces opened fire, used helicopters for aerial attacks, and carried out mass arrests and torture, resulting in over 1,500 deaths and more than 25,000 injuries.
It also accuses Hasina of ordering her party鈥檚 armed supporters to set fire to key national installations, including the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, Bangladesh Television headquarters, and metro rail stations, to falsely implicate the protesters and justify further violence.
鈥楢s head of the party and the government, Hasina had command and control over the Awami League, Chhatra League, and law enforcement agencies. The evidence proves that she planned, conspired, and ordered the killings, fulfilling the elements of crimes against humanity,鈥� Tajul submitted.
He submitted that Hasina鈥檚 conversations with Taposh, Maksud Kamal, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal president Hasanul Haq Inu, and the then Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Habibur Rahman clearly established her superior command responsibility.
Tajul played recordings of the four phone conversations before the three-member tribunal, chaired by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, to reinforce his argument.
The tribunal adjourned the hearing until Wednesday, when Tajul is scheduled to resume his arguments on the remaining three charges against Hasina, Asaduzzaman, and Mamun.
