International Crimes Tribunal-2 (ICT-2) has sentenced Md Saddam Hossain, central president, and Sheikh Wali Asif Enan, general secretary of the banned Chhatra League, along with five other co-accused, to death for crimes against humanity committed during the July Mass Uprising.
A three-member tribunal led by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury delivered the verdict on Tuesday.
The tribunal merged the third and fourth charges against both Saddam and Enan to award them the death penalty, while sentencing them to imprisonment until natural death for the first and second charges.
Both Saddam and Enan are currently absconding. The court also sentenced the other five accused in the case to death.
According to the tribunal’s findings, accused Saddam and Enan knowingly committed targeted offences on a widespread and systematic scale.
Their actions included murder, attempted murder, torture, inhumane treatment, ordering crimes, incitement, instigation, conspiracy, and failure to prevent crimes, all of which constitute punishable crimes against humanity under the International Crimes Tribunal Act.
The judgment noted that during the July Mass Uprising, Saddam and Enan commanded armed terrorist forces of the Chhatra League and other associate organisations of Awami League to launch widespread and systematic attacks against innocent, unarmed students and public nationwide.
These acts of killing and torture were carried out under their direct instructions, instigation, incitement, assistance, involvement, and knowledge.
The tribunal highlighted specific events, noting that on 11 July 2024, Saddam addressed a Chhatra League rally at Raju Sculpture, where he mocked the ongoing anti-quota movement and issued inciting threats that no protesters would be spared.
Later that day, at 5:50pm, Saddam held a telephone conversation with Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, who directly ordered him to crush the movement, asking, “Why aren’t you beating them, why are you indulging them?”
Following this conversation, Saddam accepted plans, directives, and financial resources on behalf of the party to suppress the demonstrations.
In accordance with directives and instigation from top government and Awami League figures, Enan instructed and supervised armed Chhatra League terrorists to attack protesting students across various educational institutions, including Dhaka University, as well as metropolitan areas, districts, and upazilas.
On 18 July, armed terrorists from the Chhatra League, Awami League, and affiliated bodies, alongside law enforcement agencies, opened indiscriminate fire on innocent and unarmed citizens, killing at least 23 people and severely injuring more than 2,500 others, with many suffering permanent disability or blindness.
Across the entire country, lethal weapons were deployed to suppress the uprising, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,400 protesters and leaving over 25,000 severely injured.
