Witness hearings in the war crimes case against Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) President Hasanul Haq Inu will begin today. The charges relate to alleged crimes against humanity committed during the July–August mass uprising.
On Sunday, a two-member bench of the International Crimes Tribunal-2, led by Judge Md Manjurul Bashid, fixed the date for recording prosecution witnesses. The other member of the tribunal is Judge Nur Mohammad Shahriar Kabir.
Earlier, the tribunal rejected Inu’s review petition seeking reconsideration of the indictment order. Inu filed the review on 27 November, in which he referred to the July–August mass uprising as a “so-called uprising”. The prosecution viewed this remark as seditious and demanded dismissal of the review petition.
During the hearing, Lawyers Mansurul Haque Chowdhury and Sifat Mahmud argued for Inu. Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam represented the prosecution.
Inu’s counsel claimed the prosecution had presented no documentary evidence against him. In response, the Chief Prosecutor argued that Inu’s “arrogant remarks” about the July uprising warranted sedition charges. The tribunal dismissed the review after hearing both sides.
Following the dismissal, Prosecutor Abdus Sobhan Tarafdar delivered the opening statement for the case.
On 25 September, the prosecution submitted eight specific charges to the tribunal, which were accepted on the same day. The prosecution has listed 20 witnesses to prove the allegations. It has also submitted three audio clips and six video recordings as documentary evidence.
Inu was arrested on 26 August last year. He was later shown arrested in this case, which centres on the killing of six people in Kushtia during the July 2024 uprising, classified as crimes against humanity.
Inu previously served as Information Minister under the Awami League government. He later lost his constituency in Kushtia in the twelfth parliamentary election to an Awami League rebel candidate.
