ICT charge sheets against 10 top AL leaders soon

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) prosecution will soon submit charge sheets against 10 high-profile Awami League figures, including former ministers, advisers and MPs, in cases involving crimes against humanity committed during the 2024 mass uprising.
ICT Prosecutor Gazi MH Tamim confirmed the development while talking to journalists on the ICT premises on Sunday.
The 10 accused include former industries minister Amir Hossain Amu, former agriculture minister Dr Abdur Razzaque, former education minister Dr Dipu Moni, former shipping minister Shajahan Khan, former civil aviation and tourism minister Lt Col (Retd) Faruk Khan, former textiles and jute minister Golam Dastagir Gazi, former prime minister’s power and energy adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, former MP Solaiman Salim, former Supreme Court judge Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and former Home Ministry secretary Jahangir Alam.
In another development, the prosecution is set to file an appeal with the Supreme Court this week seeking enhancement of the 10-year prison sentence awarded by the ICT to Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) President and former information minister Hasanul Haq Inu.
He was sentenced on 30 June in a crimes against humanity case over the killing of six people in Kushtia during the July uprising. All preparations for filing the appeal have been completed, said Tamim.
Meanwhile, investigation officer (IO) Md Rafiqul Islam testified before ICT-1, headed by its Chairman Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, for the second day in the crimes against humanity case against sacked Army official Ziaul Ahsan over allegations of more than 100 enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings during the Awami League regime.
Tamim said the prosecution had established three primary charges through the testimony of 15 witnesses. The charges concern the alleged direct presence and murder of three people in Gazipur in July 2011; the killing of 50 people in the River Baleshwar in Barguna between 2010 and 2013; and another 50 killings allegedly carried out under the pretext of anti-piracy operations in Barguna and the Sundarbans during the same period.
The prosecutor said that once the IO’s testimony and cross-examination are completed, the defence may present its witnesses before the case moves to final arguments.
Meanwhile, the charge-framing hearing against 12 accused, including former Mymensingh-3 MP Nazim Uddin Ahmed’s son Tanjir Ahmed Rajib, in a crimes against humanity case over the murder of three people in Gouripur of Mymensingh in 2024 has been deferred to 28 October.
ICT-2, headed by its Chairman Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, granted the prosecution’s time petition. Of the 12 accused, six are currently in custody and were produced before the tribunal. They are Rajib, former OC of Gouripur Police Station Suman Chandra Roy, ASI Delwar Hossain, and local Awami League leaders Sanaul, Shahabul Alam and Joseph Uddin. Six others, including former Gouripur Upazila Chairman Somnath Saha, remain absconding.
On 20 July 2024, an attack allegedly led by Somnath Saha, along with police and local ruling party cadres, resulted in the fatal shootings of Biplob Hasan, Md Nure Alam Siddiqui and Md Zubayer.