Dhaka, Aug 20 (IANS) Bangladesh’s former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun was produced before the country’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on Wednesday in connection with a case registered against him for alleged crimes against humanity during last year’s July demonstrations, local media reported.
He was brought from prison to the tribunal on Wednesday morning to testify against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal in the case.
The three-member bench of the ICT, led by Tribunal-1 Chairman Justice Golam Mortuza Majumder, is also set to record the 13th testimony against Hasina and two others, Bangladesh’s leading Bengali daily Jugantor reported.
Last month, local media reported that the ICT framed charges against three persons, including Hasina and former Home Minister Kamal, in a case related to the alleged “crimes against humanity” during last year’s July protest. The other co-accused, former IGP Al Mamun, reportedly has become a state witness – a witness for the prosecution – in the case.
Following the development, Bangladesh’s Awami League Party condemned the “inhuman torture and coercion” used to force Mamun to become a state witness in a “false and farcical case” filed against Hasina and two others at the “so-called ICT” of the country.
“This is part of a malicious attempt to wrongfully convict the daughter of Bangabandhu, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and others based on false and baseless allegations. The Awami League strongly condemns and expresses its utter disgust at this heinous and despicable incident,” read a statement issued by the party last month.
Meanwhile, a Dhaka court on Wednesday placed former acting Mayor of Gazipur City Corporation, Asadur Rahman Kiron, on a three-day remand over charges of alleged attempted murder of businessman Ishtiaq Mahmud during last year’s July protests.
The court also ordered former Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) mayor Atiqul Islam to be shown arrested in the same case.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate M Mizbah Ur Rahman issued the order after a hearing petition filed by investigation officer Sub-Inspector Md Nazmul Sakib of Uttara East Police Station seeking a seven-day remand for Kiron, while requesting to show Atiqul, arrested in the case.
These latest developments come amid the ongoing crackdown on Awami League leaders, along with the officials associated with the party, under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.
Analysts reckon the developments as a major political vendetta being pursued by the Yunus regime, as several cases were filed against the former Prime Minister Hasina, her party members and the working officials during her tenure on frivolous grounds immediately following her ouster in August 2024.
–IANS
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