In court on Wednesday, the former head of Bangladesh’s police force was charged with leading a brutal crackdown in an unsuccessful attempt to quell the August revolution that overthrew Sheikh Hasina’s government.
Prosecutors accused former police inspector general Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun of supervising crimes against humanity, genocide, and massacres. He was escorted into court with active officers at his sides.
Ziaul Ahsan, a former commander of the infamous Rapid Action Battalion paramilitary organization, was one of eight defendants who showed up in court in Dhaka.
The eight individuals were charged with crimes “that even devils dare not do,” according to chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam of Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal.
Following the hearing, Islam told reporters outside the court that the former police chief was the “commander of all atrocities carried out against the student protesters.”
Since Hasina’s rule fell, many of her supporters have been arrested on suspicion of taking part in a police crackdown that murdered over 700 people during the upheaval that resulted in her overthrow.
Islam provided a comprehensive list of the alleged crimes Ahsan had perpetrated, including the surveillance of government critics, extrajudicial executions, and body dismemberment.
He also shut down the internet during the rebellion, according to the prosecution.
Ahsan refuted every accusation.
He informed the court, “I never surveilled people, and I was not in charge of the secret detention center.”
Former lower-level court officials were charged with murdering demonstrators and setting their bodies on fire in order to erase the evidence.
One was charged with shooting Shaikh Ashabul Yamin, a student demonstrator whose body was thrown from the top of a police armored truck in a video that went viral on social media.
The accused sat in quiet for the majority of the hearing, listening to the charges but not being asked to enter a plea.
Majharul Islam, a former chief of the Gulshan Police Station in Dhaka, however, broke down in tears and lifted his hands in prayer above his head.
He pleaded with the court, “Please save me; I supported the protests.”
The accused are still being held after the court granted prosecutors until December 19 to finish their investigative report.
Numerous human rights violations occurred during Hasina’s 15-year term, including the extrajudicial executions and mass detentions of her political rivals.
For alleged “massacres, killings, and crimes against humanity,” the court has also issued an arrest warrant for Hasina. However, on August 5, she fled by helicopter to her old ally, India, where she is still a fugitive in exile.
The court hearing comes after identical accusations were made against 11 former ministers and other high-ranking government officials on Monday.
Other Articles
Minecraft Movie Trailer Unveils Steve’s Origin and Iconic Moments!
Imran is granted bail by IHC in the Toshakhana case.
No Comment! Be the first one.