عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Bangladesh to Open Trial of Fugitive ex-PM

Chief prosecutor of Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Mohammad Tajul Islam (C) said Hasina faces at least five charges. Abdul Goni / AFP/File
Chief prosecutor of Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Mohammad Tajul Islam (C) said Hasina faces at least five charges. Abdul Goni / AFP/File
TT
20
TT

Bangladesh to Open Trial of Fugitive ex-PM

Chief prosecutor of Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Mohammad Tajul Islam (C) said Hasina faces at least five charges. Abdul Goni / AFP/File
Chief prosecutor of Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Mohammad Tajul Islam (C) said Hasina faces at least five charges. Abdul Goni / AFP/File

Bangladesh will open the trial on Sunday of fugitive former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on charges of crimes against humanity related to the killings of protesters by police, prosecutors said.
Hasina, 77, fled by helicopter to her old ally India in August 2024 at the culmination of a student-led mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule, and has defied an extradition order to return to Dhaka, AFP said.
"The prosecution team ... is set to submit charges against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina," said Gazi MH Tamim, one of the prosecutors.

Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasina's government launched a brutal campaign to silence the protesters, according to the United Nations.

The domestic International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is prosecuting former senior figures connected to the ousted government of Hasina and her now-banned Awami League party.

The prosecution of senior figures from Hasina's government is a key demand of several of the political parties now jostling for power. The interim government has vowed to hold elections before June 2026.

The hearing is expected to be broadcast live on state-owned Bangladesh Television.
Prosecutors submitted their report into the case against Hasina last month with the court on Sunday expected to open proceedings by issuing formal charges.

ICT chief prosecutor Tajul Islam said on May 12 that Hasina faces at least five charges, including "abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising".

Investigators have collected video footage, audio clips, Hasina's phone conversations, records of helicopter and drone movements, as well as statements from victims of the crackdown as part of their probe.

Hasina remains in self-imposed exile in India and has defied an arrest warrant and extradition orders from Dhaka to face trial in person.

She has rejected the charges as politically motivated.

The same case is also expected to include former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun. They face similar charges.

The ICT court opened its first trial connected to the previous government on May 25. In that case, eight police officials face charges of crimes against humanity over the killing of six protesters on August 5, the day Hasina fled the country.

Four of the officers are in custody and four are being tried in absentia.

The ICT was set up by Hasina in 2009 to investigate crimes committed by the Pakistani army during Bangladesh's war for independence in 1971.

It sentenced numerous prominent political opponents to death and became widely seen as a means for Hasina to eliminate rivals.

Most Viewed

 
World

US Police Arrest Suspect Vance Boelter for Minnesota Lawmakers’ Shooting 

Devin Bruce of Minneapolis places flowers at a memorial for US Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were fatally shot in their Brooklyn Park home on 14 June, at the State Capitol in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, 15 June 2025. (EPA)
Devin Bruce of Minneapolis places flowers at a memorial for US Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were fatally shot in their Brooklyn Park home on 14 June, at the State Capitol in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, 15 June 2025. (EPA)
TT
20
TT

US Police Arrest Suspect Vance Boelter for Minnesota Lawmakers’ Shooting 

Devin Bruce of Minneapolis places flowers at a memorial for US Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were fatally shot in their Brooklyn Park home on 14 June, at the State Capitol in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, 15 June 2025. (EPA)
Devin Bruce of Minneapolis places flowers at a memorial for US Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were fatally shot in their Brooklyn Park home on 14 June, at the State Capitol in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, 15 June 2025. (EPA)

A massive two-day manhunt ended on Sunday with the arrest of Vance Boelter, 57, for allegedly killing a Minnesota Democratic state lawmaker and her husband while posing as a police officer, Governor Tim Walz said.

Boelter allegedly shot dead Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, and her husband, Mark, in their home on Saturday - a crime Governor Tim Walz characterized as a "politically motivated assassination."

Authorities said Boelter also allegedly shot and wounded another Democratic lawmaker, state Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette at their home a few miles away.

"After a two-day manhunt, two sleepless nights, law enforcement have apprehended Vance Boelter," Walz told a news conference. "One man's unthinkable actions have altered the state of Minnesota.

"A moment in this country where we watch violence erupt, this cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences. Now is the time for us to recommit to the core values of this country, and each and every one of us can do it."

Walz said Hoffman, who had been hit with nine bullets, came out of his final surgery and was moving towards recovery.

Boelter has links to evangelical ministries and claimed to be a security expert with experience in the Gaza Strip and Africa, according to online postings and public records reviewed by Reuters.

Boelter was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder, the criminal complaint showed.

Three of those charges are punishable with jail terms of up to 40 years, according to the complaint unsealed on Sunday.

Boelter had been impersonating a police officer while carrying out the shootings, wearing an officer's uniform and driving a Ford SUV with police-style lights, according to a Hennepin County criminal complaint unsealed on Sunday.

Boelter fled on foot early on Saturday when officers confronted him at Hortman's Brooklyn Park home, said authorities who had warned residents to stay indoors for their own safety and unleashed the state's biggest manhunt.

When police searched Boelter's SUV after the shootings they discovered three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9-mm handgun, and a list of other public officials including their addresses, the criminal complaint showed.

Working on a tip that Boelter was near his home in the city of Green Isle, more than 20 SWAT teams combed the area, aided by surveillance aircraft, officials said. Boelter was armed but surrendered with no shots fired.

"The suspect crawled to law enforcement teams and was placed under arrest," Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol told the briefing. "The suspect was taken into custody without any use of force."

The operation to capture Boelter, drawing on the work of hundreds of detectives and a wide range of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, was the largest manhunt in state history, Brooklyn Park police Chief Mark Bruley said.

"Now begins the hard work of looking at what the motive is," Bruley said.

The killing was the latest episode of high-profile US political violence.

Such incidents range from a 2022 attack on former Democratic US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband at their home, to an assassination bid on Donald Trump last year, and an arson attack at Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's house in April.