Crimes against humanity charges against Hasina proved beyond doubt: AG
Staff Reporter :
Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman has asserted that the prosecution has “proved beyond doubt” the charges of crimes against humanity brought against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and two others over atrocities committed during the July–August Mass Uprising of 2024.
Delivering his closing arguments before the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 on Wednesday, the attorney general, acting as the state’s chief legal officer, said the prosecution had presented “documentary, oral, and circumstantial evidence” sufficient to establish the culpability of the accused.
The three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Golam Mortuza Majumder, heard the arguments before fixing November 13 to announce the date for delivering its verdict in the case against Sheikh Hasina, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun — the latter of whom has already turned approver and pleaded guilty.
“The defence argued that the accused gave no orders and were innocent,” said the attorney general.
“Fortunately, they did not deny that the July Uprising took place, or that 1,400 people were killed and over 30,000 injured. But if we accept these facts — that such killings occurred under state patronage using state apparatus — the question remains: who committed these crimes?”
Asaduzzaman said the prosecution had clearly demonstrated “who committed the crimes, how they were carried out, and under whose instructions.”
He added, “The accused used the state machinery to carry out systematic and widespread killings. We have shown whose directions were executed, how the chain of command functioned, and who implemented those orders.”
He argued that the body of evidence presented before the tribunal “is strong enough to stand before any court in the world,” saying, “If this evidence were presented anywhere else, no court could avoid sentencing the accused in the interest of justice.”
Referring to the political and moral significance of the trial, the attorney general said, “As a nation, we are standing today at the threshold of civilization, striving to move forward. If we fail to ensure justice here, we will remain, in poet Helal Hafiz’s words, cowards in the eyes of future generations.”
Responding to public questions about whether the accused would receive justice, Asaduzzaman said, “Many are asking if the killers will get justice.
But should justice be seen only from their perspective? Don’t the 1,400 people who were killed in 36 days deserve justice? Don’t the thousands who were maimed have the right to justice? Shouldn’t the state itself get justice?”
He also criticised Sheikh Hasina’s decision not to return to Bangladesh to face trial, saying, “I had hoped she would come forward to face justice. Once, she challenged another leader to return to Bangladesh and face trial if he had courage.
I believed she said that sincerely. Today I realise she did not. If she truly had courage, she would have returned to stand trial on the soil of Bangladesh.”
Concluding his submission, Asaduzzaman urged the tribunal to ensure justice “through all obstacles,” saying, “If we fail to establish justice, countless innocent lives in Bangladesh will remain at risk — five-year-old children, ten-year-old boys like Anas, youths like Mugdha who was killed while distributing water, and Abu Sayeed who fell on the street.
If we cannot conclude this trial with justice, the people of Bangladesh will go down in history as cowards.”
“For that reason,” he declared, “I firmly state that what we have proved in this trial is beyond doubt.”
The tribunal will now set the date for the delivery of its verdict on November 13, marking the next critical step in the most consequential war crimes trial since the fall of the Awami League government.