The International Crimes Tribunal is set to hold a hearing on Sunday against 13 accused including three army officers in a case of crimes against humanity related to enforced disappearances at Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC) during the previous Awami League rule.
The three army officers were taken to the tribunal around 10:30am and produced before it around 12pm. They are Brigadier General Ahmed Tanvir Mazahar Siddiqui, Major General Sheikh Md Sarwar Hossain, and Brigadier General Md Mahbubur Rahman Siddiqui.
Meanwhile, additional police, RAB, and BGB personnel have been deployed in the area.
Former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted from power last year, and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal are also defendants in this case.
On 23 November, the ICT-1 led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Majumdar set Sunday (December 7) for the hearing on framing charges.
Earlier on 22 October, The ICT-1 sent these three and 10 other army officers to prison in connection with several cases. They were later kept in a special government-declared prison inside Dhaka Cantonment.
On 8 October, formal charges were filed before the tribunal against Hasina and 27 others over enforced disappearances. After the hearing that day, the tribunal took cognisance of the charges and issued arrest warrants against the accused.
In the Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC) disappearance case, 13 people including Hasina, her former security and defence adviser Tarique Ahmed Siddique and Asaduzzaman Khan were accused. In another case filed over enforced disappearances at the Taskforce for Interrogation (TFI) Cell, Hasina and Tarique Siddique are among 17 accused.
Out of these 30 people, Hasina and Tarique Siddique are defendants in both cases, bringing the total number of accused persons to 28. Of them, 13 have been arrested, while the rest remain fugitives.
