The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Monday, held a hearing on the formal framing of charges against 22 individuals, including former foreign minister Hasan Mahmud, for crimes against humanity committed during the July uprising in Chattogram.
The prosecution, led by Prosecutor Farooq Ahmed, argued that there are sufficient preliminary elements to frame formal charges against the accused for the killing of six people, including Chhatra Dal leader Wasim Akram.
Following the prosecution’s submission, the tribunal fixed Wednesday to hear applications from the defence seeking discharge from the case.
The court had previously scheduled the date for the charge framing hearing on 4 June.
Earlier, on 13 May, the tribunal ordered the appointment of state-run lawyers for 17 fugitive defendants in the case.
Alongside Hasan Mahmud, the other fugitive accused include former education minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel, former Chattogram City Corporation mayor AJM Nasir Uddin, Rezaul Karim, Mohiuddin Bacchu, Helal Akbar, Nurul Azim Rony, Shaibal Das Suman, Abu Saleque, Esbarul Haque, HM Mithu, Noor Mostafa Tinu, Jamir Uddin, Imran Hasan Mahmud, Zakaria Dastagir, Mohiuddin Farhad and Suman Dey.
To date, five individuals have been arrested: former lawmaker ABM Fazle Karim Chowdhury, and Jubo League leaders Azizur Rahman, Touhidul Islam, Mohammad Firoz, and Debashish Pal Debu.
According to case documents, all the accused are affiliated with the Awami League or its associate organisations.
The investigation agency concluded its probe and submitted the report to the prosecution office on 2 April. After scrutiny, the prosecution filed the findings as a formal charge in the tribunal.
After reviewing the findings, prosecutors formally placed the charges before the tribunal. The case contains three charges.
The first relates to the killing of Md Wasim Akram, Faisal Ahmed Shanta and Md Faruk in Chattogram on 16 July 2024.
The second concerns the killing of Tanvir Siddiqui, Md Saimon and Hriday Chandra on 18 July 2024.
The third charge alleges the serious injury of more than 100 people during the violence.
