Sheikh Hasina Charged with Crimes Against Humanity Before Tribunal

Charges against former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have been submitted to the International Crimes Tribunal or ICT in Bangladesh.  The charges, including the charge of crimes against humanity, were submitted at noon to the registrar of the tribunal following the investigation report. 

Bangladesh has started the trial against the former Prime Minister related to the killings of protesters by the police during the uprising last year. 

Sheikh Hasina had fled by helicopter in August 2024 as a violent mob approached her official residence, Gana Bhavan, in Dhaka. 

The protests, with students at the forefront, was reportedly supported by the then banned Jamaat-E-Islami Bangladesh, a radical Islamist organisation.

Apart from Sheikh Hasina, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun have also been named as accused in the case.

The International Crimes Tribunal, originally set up to try cases related to war crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation War, was reconstituted following ouster of the Awami League government in August last year. 

In a post on social media, Chief Advisor of the Interim Government of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, meanwhile, has denied CIA's role in last year's uprising against Sheikh Hasina after her refusal to comply with US demands for a military base on Saint Martin's Island. 
Several claims have been made that the CIA and the ISI were involved in the plot to overthrow Sheikh Hasina. 

In a post on social media platform X, Muhammad Yunus said, "The July movement itself was not a CIA-ISI conspiracy but a spontaneous outpouring of anger by students and ordinary citizens against Sheikh Hasina's brutal, authoritarian rule, which had suppressed democracy and led to widespread violence. Tens of thousands took to the streets demanding her removal after witnessing hundreds of deaths caused by her government's security forces."

"According to a UN fact-finding mission, approximately 1,400 protesters were killed during this period. The narrative of the United States seeking to establish control over Saint Martin's Island is a baseless fabrication pushed by Sheikh Hasina's camp," Muhammad Yunus added. 

Sheikh Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed recently alleged that Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-E-Taiba was involved in the uprising against his mother that led to her ouster. Since then, radical elements in Bangladesh have been emboldened and terror-accused have been co-opted into the system by the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus. 

The Lashkar-E-Taiba is a listed terrorist organisation with close links to Pakistan's spy agency, ISI. 

Sajeeb Wazed has also quoted BBC reports that say many of those allegedly killed by the Sheikh Hasina government are still alive. "The Yunus dictatorship won't even let them be listed alive and remove charges," Wazed posted on X.

After coming to power, Muhammad Yunus has advocated for "stronger ties with Pakistan".