Bangladesh's ex-Premier Hasina faces 'crimes against humanity' case

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - A case was filed against Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and eight other members of her now-dissolved Cabinet and police officers on charges of "crimes against humanity" and "genocide," according to an official on Wednesday.

The case was filed at the local International Crimes Tribunal in the capital Dhaka, Ataur Rahman, a deputy director of the investigation agency of the court, told the media.

The tribunal was formed by the then-Awami League government of Hasina in 2010 to prosecute those who had opposed Bangladesh's war of independence in 1971.

Some of the top opposition party leaders have been tried by this tribunal.

The investigation agency of the court accepted the case on Wednesday after the father of Alif Ahmed Siam, a ninth-grade student who was shot by police on Aug. 5 and succumbed to his bullet injuries, filed the suit through his lawyer Gazi MH Tanim.

Earlier, the adviser to the transitional government on law affairs, Asif Nazrul, told reporters that those involved in the killings that took place from July 1 to Aug. 5 during the student protests "may be tried in the International Crimes Tribunal."

He also said no individual would be exempt from prosecution, including Hasina.

The law adviser said they would make efforts to involve the UN in the investigation process.

Earlier, three cases, including murder and abduction, were filed against Hasina, who fled Bangladesh on Aug. 5 to neighboring India.