Shapla Chattar crackdown: ICT prosecution files charges against Hasina, 40 others

The prosecution today submitted formal charges against 41 people, including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, over the May 5, 2013, crackdown on Hefazat-e-Islam's Shapla Chattar rally in Dhaka.

The charges were submitted to the registrar of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) and will be placed before the tribunal for consideration.

Besides Hasina, the accused include former home minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir; former information ministers Hasanul Haq Inu and Hasan Mahmud; former state minister for home Shamsul Haque Tuku; former ministers Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Abdur Razzaque, Abdul Latif Siddiqui, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Dr Dipu Moni and Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya; former Awami League joint general secretaries Mahbubul Alam Hanif and AFM Bahauddin Nasim; former state minister Advocate Mrinal Kanti Das; former Jubo League chairman Omar Faruk Chowdhury; former lawmaker and ex-Jubo League organising secretary Salahuddin Mahmud SM Zahid; Gonojagoron Mancha convener Dr Imran H Sarker; Sector Commanders Forum president Shahriar Kabir; and Channel 71 Managing Director Mozammel Haque Babu and journalist Farzana Rupa.

The charge sheet also names former army chief Gen (retd) Aziz Ahmed; former inspectors general of police Benazir Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud Khandker, Shahidul Hoque and Dr Mohammad Javed Patwary; former Rapid Action Battalion director general Md Mokhlesur Rahman; former Rab intelligence director Ziaul Ahsan; former Rab additional director general (operations) Lt Gen Md Mujibur Rahman; former DMP additional police commissioner Md Abdul Jalil Mondal; former DMP detective chief Sheikh Muhammad Maruf Hasan; former Special Branch officials Mahbub Hossain and Md Monirul Islam; Additional Inspector General Md Anwar Hossain; Deputy Inspector General Md Ashraful Zaman; Additional Deputy Inspector General SM Mehedi Hasan; former deputy inspectors general Mohammad Harun-or-Rashid, Biplob Kumar Sarker and Syed Nurul Islam; Superintendent of Police Md Asaduzzaman; retired Additional Superintendent of Police SM Shibli Noman; and Police Inspector BM Forman Ali.

Earlier in the day, Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam told journalists that investigators had identified 58 killings linked to the crackdown on Hefazat-e-Islam's Shapla Chattar rally in Dhaka and four other districts on May 5–6, 2013.