The International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) on Sunday ordered the publication of notices in newspapers directing ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and five other fugitives to surrender in connection with a case involving the killing of nine people.
The victims were killed during a 2016 raid at Jahajbari building in Kalyanpur.
The tribunal, which included Prosecutor Gazi MH Tamim, Prosecutor Saimum Reza Talukdar, and Abdus Satter Palwan, has set 8 March as the date for the next hearing.
There are eight accused in total in this case.
The court issued the directive for newspaper notices for the six fugitives as two other accused – former Inspector general of police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque and former Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner Md Asaduzzaman Mia – are already in custody.
The fugitives include deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, DMP ex-additional commissioner Sheikh Muhammad Maruf Hasan, Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) ex-chief Monirul Islam, DMP ex-joint commissioner (crime) Krishna Pada Roy, and DMP ex-joint commissioner (DB) Abdul Baten.
Previously, on 29 January, the ICT accepted charges against eight individuals and issued arrest warrants for the fugitives.
The case relates to a special operation titled “Operation Storm-26,” conducted by the CTTC on 25 July 2016, at a building known as Jahajbari in Kalyanpur. Nine youths were shot dead during the raid, whom the then government and law enforcement agencies identified as militants.
However, the incident has subsequently been characterised as a “planned militant drama” and a series of extrajudicial killings.
Based on claims from the victims’ families and information from various investigations, these killings are now being legally processed as politically motivated crimes against humanity.
