[🇧🇩] The International Crimes Tribunal-2---Charging People For The Murder of Abu Syed And Others

[Saif]

Date of Event: Aug 7, 2025

Source: https://www.newagebd.net/post/Country/272233/ict-frames-charges-against-brur-vc-29-others-in-abu-sayeed-murder-case

ICT frames charges against BRUR VC, 29 others in Abu Sayeed murder case
M Moneruzzaman 06 August, 2025, 14:55

Abu Sayeed

The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Wednesday charged 30 people, including former Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur vice-chancellor Hasibur Rashid, in a case of crimes against humanity over the murder of student Abu Sayeed during the July 2024 protests.

Abu Sayeed, a student of the university’s English department, was shot dead on July 16, 2024, on the divider of the Dhaka–Rangpur Highway near his campus, while staging a demonstration as part of the nationwide students’ movement against discrimination.

His killing became a flashpoint in the July uprising that ousted the Awami League regime on August 5, 2024.

This is the first case taken up by the ICT-2 since its formation during the interim government.

The three-member tribunal of retired High Court judge Nozrul Islam Chowdhury, retired district judge Md Manjurul Basid and judge Nur Mohammad Shahriar Kabir, also set August 27 for the commencement of the trial in the case through the prosecution’s opening statement.

The court also set August 28 to start the recording of the depositions of prosecution witnesses.

The charges, submitted by the chief prosecutor on July 1, accuse the 30 individuals of murder, torture, and other inhumane acts as part of a coordinated crackdown on protesters.

The accused list includes 12 university officials, eight police officers, nine leaders of Awami League’s student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League, which was banned by the interim government, and a physician.

Six detained accused, including former proctor Shariful Islam, staff members Anwar Parvez Appel and Rafiul Hasan Rasel, assistant sub-inspector Amir Hossain, constable Sujan Chandra Roy, and BCL leader Imran Chowdhury Akash, heard the charges against them from the dock.

Asked whether they were guilty or not, they separately pleaded ‘not guilty’ and demanded justice.

The remaining 24 accused are still in hiding and will face the trial in absentia.

The absconding accused include nine university staff, including former VC Hasibur Rashid and top administrators, six senior police officers, including former Rangpur Metropolitan Police commissioner Moniruzzaman Beltu, and several senior officials of the district administration, eight BCL leaders, including BRUR unit president Pomel Barua and secretary Mahafuzur Rahman Shamim, and a forensic physician, Sarowat Hossain Chandan.

Sarowat Hossain Chandan is accused of influencing the duty doctor to manipulate the post-mortem report stating that Abu Sayeed died following fatal head injuries.

The chargesheet also implicates deposed prime minister and Awami League president Sheikh Hasina, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, both in hiding in India, and detained former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, now a state evidence, for instigating the violence under superior command responsibility.

Their names, however, were not included in this case as they are facing trial in a separate case for coordinated crimes during the 2024 uprising.

The complaint in this case was filed by Abu Sayeed’s brother Ramjan Ali on January 13. Ramjan accused 24 identified individuals and 130–135 other unidentified people of crimes against humanity in Rangpur.

Sayeed’s death, captured on video, showed him standing alone with his arms outstretched before collapsing from a police bullet. The footage went viral, igniting nationwide outrage and further fueling the anti-government protests.

Abu Sayeed is recognised as the first martyr of the 2024 student-led uprising that began on July 1, calling for the abolition of discrimination in public sector recruitment quotas.

The movement led to the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime on August 5, 2024.​

 

[Saif]

AL’s Quader, Nasim, 5 others charged

The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Thursday framed charges of crimes against humanity against Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader, joint general secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim, and five other senior leaders of Juba League and...

www.newagebd.net

AL’s Quader, Nasim, 5 others charged
M Moneruzzaman 23 January, 2026, 01:31

The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Thursday framed charges of crimes against humanity against Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader, joint general secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim, and five other senior leaders of Juba League and Chhatra League for their alleged involvement in atrocities committed during the July 2024 mass uprising.

The three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury, fixed February 17 to begin their trial in absentia through the chief prosecutor’s opening statement.

Besides Quader and Nasim, the other accused are former state minister for information and broadcasting, Mohammad Ali Arafat, Juba League chairman and deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s nephew Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash, Juba League general secretary Md Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil, and Chhatra League president Saddam Hossain and general secretary Sheikh Walid Asif Enan.

As all seven accused are absconding, the tribunal did not read out the three charges in open court.

The tribunal also rejected discharge petitions filed by the tribunal-appointed defence lawyers Lokman Hawlader and Ishrat Jahan.

The prosecution filed the formal charges against the seven on December 18.

According to the charges, Obaidul Quader, along with law enforcement agencies and leaders and activists of the Awami League, Juba League, and Chhatra League under his command, ordered, instigated, aided, and facilitated widespread and systematic attacks on unarmed student protesters across the country between July 1, 2024 and August 5, 2024, the day when the Sheikh Hasina regime was ousted from power amid a mass uprising.

The charges said that on July 19, 2024, after a meeting of the 14-party alliance at Ganabhaban, Obaidul Quader told journalists that a curfew had been imposed, adding that curfew meant ‘shoot at sight’.

The prosecution also referred to a July 14, 2024 press conference where deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina described student protesters as ‘sons and grandsons of Razakars’.

The charges alleged that Obaidul Quader, Mohammad Ali Arafat, and other Awami League leaders present there supported and praised the remarks, which further provoked the protests.

According to the charges, on July 17, 2024, Sheikh Hasina spoke with Chhatra League general secretary Sheikh Walid Asif Enan.

Following this, student protesters at Dhaka University and other institutions were attacked under Enan’s instigation, orders, and supervision.

On July 18, 2024, at least 23 people were killed and about 2,500 were injured as law enforcement agencies, along with Awami League, Juba League, and Chhatra League activists, carried out coordinated attacks, the charges said.

The prosecution also cited a phone conversation on July 11, 2024 between Obaidul Quader and Saddam Hossain, in which Quader allegedly urged a crackdown on protesters.

The charges said that after a press conference at the party’s Dhanmondi office, where Obaidul Quader and Bahauddin Nasim supported Sheikh Hasina’s remarks, Chhatra League activists attacked students, leaving about 300 injured at Dhaka University and many more at other institutions.

As a consequence, the charges said, killings took place across the country.

On August 4, 2024, 12 people were killed in Mirpur in Dhaka, seven were killed in Mahipal in Feni, and four were killed in Lakshmipur.

On August 5, 2024, at least 20 more people were killed in Mirpur. Several others, including Raihan Ali and Shakib Anjum, were killed in Rajshahi during the uprising.

According to the prosecution, about 1,400 people were killed and nearly 25,000 were seriously injured nationwide during the July movement due to the use of lethal weapons.

On November 17, 2025, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 sentenced deposed prime minister and Awami League president Hasina, and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death for committing crimes against humanity during the July–August 2024 mass uprising.

Former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, who turned a state evidence, received a reduced sentence of five years’ imprisonment.

The three were sentenced for their superior command responsibility to the members of law enforcement agencies.​

 

[Saif]

ICT sentences ex-MP, JL leader, 4 cops to death

The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Thursday sentenced former lawmaker Muhammad Saiful Islam, Juba League leader Rani Bhuiyan and four former police members to death in a crimes against humanity case over the killings of seven protesters in...

www.newagebd.net

ICT sentences ex-MP, JL leader, 4 cops to death

Ex-DIG Nurul Islam among 13 cops jailed, one pardoned

M Moneruzzaman 05 February, 2026, 14:43

Ashulia police station sub-inspector Abdul Malek shouts, as police bring him out of International Crimes Tribunal-2 that sentences him along with five other to death for the killings of seven protesters in Ashulia during July-August 2024 mass uprising, in Dhaka on Thursday. | New Age photo

The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Thursday sentenced former lawmaker Muhammad Saiful Islam, Juba League leader Rani Bhuiyan and four former police members to death in a crimes against humanity case over the killings of seven protesters in Ashulia, on the outskirts of the capital, during the 2024 mass uprising.

The three-member tribunal, chaired by Justice Norzul Islam Chowdhury, delivered the verdict over the killing of the protesters and burning the bodies on a police vehicle on August 5, 2024, the final day of the mass uprising that led to the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime.

Besides Saiful and Rani, four other death sentence recipients are former Ashulia police station officer-in-charge AFM Sayeed Roni, former sub-inspector Abdul Malek, former assistant sub-inspector Biswajit Saha and former constable Md Mukul Chokder.

Out of the six, Malek and Mukul are in jail.

The tribunal ordered the confiscation of the properties of the six death sentence recipients to the state exchequer and to distribute them among the families of the deceased victims.

The tribunal also sentenced seven former police officials, including former deputy inspector general of police for Dhaka Range Nurul Islam, former Superintendent of Police for Dhaka district Asaduzzaman Ripon, additional SPs Md Shahidul Islam and Abdullah Al Kafi, Detective Branch inspector Md Arafat Hossain Arju, former Ashulia police station inspector (investigation) Mohammad Masudur Rahman, and former inspector (operations) Nirmal Kumar Das, to life term imprisonment.

Of the seven life term imprisonment recipients, Kafi Arafat and Shahidul are now in jail.

The tribunal also jailed two detained assistant sub-inspectors, Kamrul Hasan and Arafat Uddin, for seven years.

The tribunal pardoned the remaining accused and former Ashulia sub-inspector Sheikh Afzalul Haque after he had confessed to his involvement in the killings and the burning of the bodies and testified as state evidence over the seven killings.

The deceased victims are Sajjad Hossain, also known as Sajal, AS Sabur, Tanzil Mahmud Sujoy, Bayezid Bustami, Abul Hossain, Md Omar Faruk and another unidentified charred protester.

This is the third verdict of the reconstituted International Crimes Tribunals during the tenure of the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.

The tribunal, in the verdict, said that the gravity of the crimes and the manner in which the crimes were committed left no room for leniency.

It observed that the accused carried out crimes against humanity through widespread and systematic attacks on unarmed civilian protesters.

The victims were students exercising their democratic rights. They were neither combatants nor involved in violence, the tribunal said.

The tribunal said that the accused abused their authority and that the involvement of senior police officers, who were duty-bound to protect lives, amounted to a grave betrayal of public trust.

It noted that the indiscriminate shooting showed extreme cruelty.

The tribunal also said that the burning of the bodies of seven protesters, including one who was still alive, shocked the nation and went beyond ordinary homicide.

It concluded that the crimes spread fear among the public and terrorised civilians.

Prosecutors Mizanul Islam, Faruque Ahmed and Gazi Monowar Hossain Tamim expressed satisfaction over the verdict.

Lawyer Md Abul Hasan, who represented two death sentence recipients, ASI Malek and constable Mukul, told New Age that the prosecution alleged that, in a video footage, Mukul with a shotgun was seen picking up protesters’ bodies from a peddle van to a police vehicle. ‘But, his presence could not be proved beyond doubt.’

About Malek’s role, the lawyer said that Malek’s presence could not be proved anyhow.

‘We expect justice in the appeal,’ he added.

Convict Malek, while being taken from the courtroom to the tribunal lockup, shouted that innocent police officers like him had been jailed, while others—including state witness Sheikh Afzalul Haque and prosecution witness ASI Monirul Islam, whom he accused of burning the bodies—were not made accused because, he claimed, they had paid money to the investigating officer, Jan-e-Alam.

The tribunal-appointed lawyers Amir Hossain and Sujat Mia represented the absconding accused.

According to the prosecution, members of Ashulia police station, along with Awami League cadres, shot the protesters to death.

The police later loaded the bodies onto a paddle van and covered them with a bed.

The bodies were taken to Ashulia police station and then transferred to a covered police pick-up van, where they were burnt.

Witnesses said that a hand from one of the bodies moved while the bodies were inside the vehicle.

The police pick-up van carrying the charred bodies was later traced, and a namaz-e-janaza was held near the Baipal mosque in Ashulia.

Four bodies were handed over to families after identification through money bags, identity cards, shoes, or birthmarks.

Two bodies could not be identified at the time. Their DNA samples were collected, preserved, and later matched to confirm their identities.

One of the accused threw a burning cigarette or a dry piece of wood onto the bodies of seven protesters already on fire.

On January 20, the tribunal concluded the hearing in the case.

The tribunal began the trial on September 22, 2025.

During the trial, the tribunal examined 24 prosecution witnesses and one defence witness.

On August 21, 2025, the tribunal framed charges in the case against the 16 accused in the presence of eight detained accused.

The investigation agency started probes on October 6, 2024 and concluded the probe on July 2, 2025 pressing charges against the 16 accused.

In the first verdict linked to the July uprising, deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, both absconding, were sentenced to death for their superior command responsibilities to the July-August mass uprising across the country, while former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun was jailed for five years after he had testified as a state evidence.

In the second verdict, three former senior officers of Dhaka Metropolitan Police were sentenced to death and five of their subordinate officers were sentenced to varying prison terms for their roles in the killings of six protesters in the capital’s Chankharpool area during the 2024 student-led mass uprising.

The death sentence recipients are DMP’s former commissioner Habibur Rahman, former joint commissioner Sudip Kumar Chakraborty, and former Ramna assistant deputy commissioner Shah Alam Md Akhterul Islam.

At least 20 crimes against humanity cases linked to the 2024 July–August atrocities are now pending before the two ICTs.​