Former army chief General (retd) Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan has stated that he was not in favour of promoting former army officer Ziaul Ahsan because he is a serial killer.
He disclosed this information on Wednesday, while responding to cross-examination by the defence lawyer, Aminul Gani Titto at the International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT). He was cross-examined by defence lawyer Aminul Gani Titto.
The next cross-examination date has been set for 23 February.
During cross-examination, Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan said, “During my tenure as Army Chief, Ziaul Ahsan was promoted from lieutenant colonel to colonel. He was promoted based on the opinion of the majority of the promotion board. Many members of the board opined in favour of the promotion considering their own future interests. I called Major General Momen and told him that Ziaul Ahsan is a serial killer and that I was not in favour of his promotion. Still, the majority of board members recommended his promotion, calling him a good officer.”
The former army chief added, “Ziaul Ahsan was never a good officer. In the army, generally, no one is promoted to Lieutenant Colonel without attending Staff College. He never acquired the qualification for Staff College. He did not even attend Staff College. Furthermore, as a lieutenant colonel, he never commanded any battalion. For this reason, he was not qualified for promotion to colonel.”
Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan noted that a few days after General Momen presented the matter regarding Ziaul at the promotion meeting, he (Momen) was removed from the army and sent on deputation as the ambassador to Bahrain.
“In the army, this type of posting is called a dumping posting,” he said.
Last year, on 17 December, the tribunal took cognizance of the three formal charges brought by the prosecution against Ziaul Ahsan. According to the prosecution, during 2009-2016, Ziaul Ahsan served as Director of RAB’s intelligence wing and as ADG (Ops).
During this time, he directly participated in numerous enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, and countless killings, disappearances, and other crimes against humanity were committed by his trusted RAB members under his direct instruction, authorization, and with his knowledge, the former army chief added.
According to prosecution sources, from the time he was posted to RAB as an army major in 2009, the accused Ziaul Ahsan became extremely trusted by Sheikh Hasina through various activities. As a result, until his compulsory retirement as major general in 2024, he never had to return to his parent force, the Bangladesh Army.
Throughout Hasina’s tenure, he worked in various forces or agencies under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Without undergoing the necessary courses or training required for promotion and without any experience commanding a battalion, brigade, or formation, the accused Zia was promoted up to Major General, an unprecedented event in the army’s history.
