13 arrested officials, including 9 ministers, produced before court for 1st time after bloody protests in July
\n Dhaka
\nThe Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal on Monday asked its investigation body to complete the probe against ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and submit a report by Dec. 17 in cases related to genocide and crimes against humanity.
\nThe local court conducted its proceedings in the absence of Hasina as she fled the country on Aug. 5 after bloody protests that claimed hundreds of lives.
\nEarlier the court set Nov. 18 for Hasina and 45 members of her Cabinet and other top officials to appear in a separate case on similar charges.
\nOf them, 13 arrested officials, including nine ministers, were produced before the court for the first time.
\nProsecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam on Monday said the 13 defendants, who included 11 former ministers, a judge and an ex-government secretary, were accused of command responsibility for the deadly crackdown on the student-led protest that toppled the regime.
\nHasina\u2019s nearly 16-year tenure saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.
\n\u201cThe crimes that led to mass murders and genocide have occurred over the past 16 years across the country,\u201d said Islam.
\nThe court later ordered authorities to submit an investigation report by next month (Dec. 17), the chief prosecutor of the court, Mohammad Tajul Islam, told media after the court hearing.
\nHe said they have already written to the country\u2019s police chief to request Interpol to issue a red warrant to arrest Hasina as she \u201chas gone out of the court jurisdiction.\u201d
\nHe also said that the government would work on all other available options, including the bilateral extradition treaty between Bangladesh and India.
\nIndia and Bangladesh have a bilateral extradition treaty.
\nEarlier on Sunday, Bangladesh transitional government head Muhammad Yunus in a televised address to the nation, marking his first 100 days in office, said that his government will ask India to extradite former Prime Minister Hasina.
\nHasina fled India on Aug. 5 in the face of massive protests in July and August. Following her departure, Nobel laureate Yunus took office on Aug. 8.
\nDuring the protests, around 1,500 people were killed and 19,931 others injured, Yunus said in his address.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
13 arrested officials, including 9 ministers, produced before court for 1st time after bloody protests in July Dhaka The Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal on Monday asked its investigation body to complete the probe against ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and submit a report by Dec. 17 in cases related to genocide and crimes against humanity. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":444349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-444329","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n