The International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Wednesday issued arrest warrants against deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina in two separate cases filed over allegations of enforced disappearances during her 16-year tenure.
The arrest warrant was issued against Hasina amid the ongoing trial of crimes against humanity, committed during the uprising last year.
The court also ordered the arrests of former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and former defence adviser Major General (retd) Tariq Ahmed Siddique and 28 others. Most of the other accused are former and incumbent army officers.
Five former directors general of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) were also accused in a case.
The tribunal, headed by Judge Mohammad Golam Mortuza Majumdar, took the cases into cognisance after the prosecution filed formal charges for the two disappearance cases before the tribunal.
Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam presented the charges and requested the issuance of arrest warrants, which the tribunal accepted.
After filing the formal charge in a case, Prosecutor Gazi Monowar Hossain Tamim informed the media that charges had been filed against Sheikh Hasina, Tariq Siddique, and 17 others.
“A total of five charges were brought in this case,” he said.
The other accused in this case are former IGP Benazir Ahmed, former RAB DGs M Khurshid Hossain and Mohammad Harun-or-Rashid, former RAB additional DG colonel Anwar Latif Khan, former RAB additional DG Brigadier General Jahangir Alam, former RAB additional DG Brigadier General Tofael Mostafa Sarowar, former RAB additional DG Colonel KM Azad, former RAB additional DG Brigadier General Kamrul Hasan, former RAB additional DG Brigadier General Mahabub Alam, RAB former additional DG colonel Abdullah Al Momen, former RAB director Lt Col Sarwar Bin Kashem, former RAB director Lt Col Khairul Islam, former RAB director Lt Col Mashiur Rahman Jewel and former RAB director Lt Col Saiful Islam Suman.
In the second case, 13 individuals are accused, including Hasina and Tariq Siddique and five charges were also brought against them.
The other accused include former DGs of DGFI Lt Gen (Rtd) Akbar Hossain, Maj Gen (Rtd) Mohammad Saiful Abedin, Lt Gen (Rtd) Mohammad Saiful Alam, Lt Gen (Rtd) Ahmed Tabrej Shams Chowdhury and Maj Gen (Rtd) Hamidul Haque, former Counter Terrorism and Intelligence Bureau (CTIB) director Maj Gen (Rtd) Touhidul Islam, former CTIB director Maj Gen Sheikh Mohammad Sarwar Hossain, CTIB former director Maj Gen Kabir Ahmmad, CTIB former director Brig Gen Mahbubur Rahman Siddique, CTIB former director Brig Gen Ahmed Tanvir Mazhar and Lt Col (Rtd) Makhsurul Haque.
Hasina along with her sister Sheikh Rehana fled to India on August 5 last year in the face of a mass uprising led by students. She has been in India since then.
