Former IGP Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun has expressed deep regret and apologised for the deaths of students and protesters during the July-August uprising crackdown, where excessive force was used.
Mamun stated that decisions to deploy deadly weapons, use helicopters for shooting, and carry out block raids were made politically.
“I am deeply ashamed, regretful, and sorry that excessive force was used to kill students and the public during the crackdown on the movement,” Mamun said on Tuesday, while giving his testimony before the International Criminal Tribunal-1.
The tribunal was led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Majumdar.
Mamun explained that the orders to use deadly weapons during the July-August movement came directly from the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina. He also revealed that former DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman Habib and Detective Branch’s Harun were particularly eager to use deadly weapons during the crackdown.
Mamun’s testimony began at 11:50am, where he further explained that before the 2018 national elections, IGP Javed Patwari advised Sheikh Hasina to ensure 50 per cent of the ballots were already cast into the ballot boxes the night before the election.
He also stated that the decisions to use deadly weapons, helicopter gunfire, and block raids were politically motivated. Mamun mentioned that secret detention cells known as TIF in RAB-1 and similar cells in other RAB units were used to detain individuals who were seen as a threat to the government or political opposition.
He disclosed that the directives for these actions often came from the Prime Minister’s Office, and occasionally from Tarique Siddiqui.
Mamun referred to operations where individuals were detained in “mirror rooms” and subjected to crossfire killings under the leadership of RAB’s ADC Operations and Intelligence Division Directors.
On March 24 this year, Mamun gave a confessional statement before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court, expressing his desire to become a state witness and reveal the truth.
Meanwhile, 35 individuals, including members of families of those injured and killed during the July movement, have already testified against Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal. The prosecution expects the testimony phase of the trial to conclude within this month.
