Hasina, Aziz among 41 charged over Shapla Chattar crackdown

The prosecution on Monday submitted formal charges against 41 people, including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and former army chief General (retd) Aziz Ahmed, over the May 5, 2013 crackdown on Hefazat-e-Islam’s Shapla Chattar rally in Dhaka.

Prosecutor Zahirul Amin submitted the charge sheet to the Registrar of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) at around 10:45am, accompanied by fellow prosecutor Marjina Raihan.

A three-member bench of Tribunal-2, headed by Chairman Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, is scheduled to hold a hearing on the charges on Monday.

The prosecution has brought the case against 41 individuals in connection with the operation against the Hefazat-e-Islam rally held at Shapla Chattar in Dhaka on May 5, 2013.

Among those currently in custody are nine accused, including former minister Dr Dipu Moni, former state minister for home affairs Shamsul Haque Tuku, Major General (retd) Ziaul Ahsan, former Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque, former Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Mollah Nazrul Islam, Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee advisory board president Shahriar Kabir, former DIG Abdul Jalil Mondal, and journalists Farzana Rupa and Mozammel Babu.

The prosecution alleged that 58 people were killed at four locations, including Dhaka, in connection with the Hefazat rally on May 5, 2013.

According to the investigation agency, the victims include 32 people in Dhaka, 20 in Narayanganj, five in Chattogram and one in Cumilla.

The case relates to the Hefazat-e-Islam rally at Shapla Chattar in Dhaka in May 2013 and the subsequent security operation.

The prosecution has now formally placed its charges before the ICT, with the tribunal set to examine the matter during the scheduled hearing.