Bangladesh: ICT to hear charges against Sheikh Hasina on July 1

The indictment hearing in the crimes against humanity case against Bangladesh's deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been set for July 1, the country's crimes tribunal announced on Tuesday. The cases are against Hasina, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun for their role in the July-August mass uprising last year, state-run BSS reported.  A three-member bench of the crimes tribunal, led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, passed the order after the accused failed to appear before the court despite a notice seeking their surrender.
Hasina, whose nearly 16-year Awami League regime was toppled last year in a student-led uprising on August 5, forcing her to leave the country for India, was accused of mass killings during the uprising and enforced disappearances earlier in the tribunal. State defence counsel would be appointed to represent Hasina and Kamal before the court, the tribunal stated.The prosecution in the formal charge brought five charges against Hasina, Kamal and Al-Mamun and the crime tribunal's investigation agency filed its probe report in the crimes against humanity and mass killing case on May 12, according to the report.
The Awami League condemned the commencement of trial proceedings against its party leader and former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina by the ICT, calling it a “show trial” , orchestrated under the “unelected and undemocratic” regime of Muhammad Yunus. It also denied the charges against former PM stating and also questioned the impartiality of the ongoing trial, noting that several officials of current administration have already declared Sheikh Hasina guilty in public.