‘Planned systematic attack’: Bangladesh tested PS-PM Sheikh Hasina, which is more than a crack on protesters in 2024

New Delhi: Bangladesh on Sunday opened a high-profile trial of fugitive former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, which was accused of “systematic attacks” to suppress a massive protest against its government in mid-2024, killing 1,400 people.At the International Crime Tribunal (ICT) in Dhaka, Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam told the court that evidence revealed that Crackdown was “a coordinated, widespread and systematic attack.”In its initial comment, Islam said, “The accused instigated all law enforcement agencies and its armed party members to crush the rebellion.”77-year-old Hasina remains in the exile in India and has dismissed the allegations as politically motivated. She ran away from Bangladesh by helicopter in August 2024 as her 15 -year rule fell amid a student -led rebellion. He has postponed a extradition order and has not appeared in court.Along with Hasina, the case includes former police chief Chaudhary Abdullah al-Mamun, who is in custody, but was absent from Sunday hearing, and former-internal minister Asdujaman Khan Kamal, who is also on runs.The allegations include “abetment, inspection, complexity, convenience, conspiracies, and failure to prevent mass murder during the dissolution of July.”Islam insisted that the matter was intented in justice, not vengeance: “It is not a vengeance, but there is a commitment to this principle that, in a democratic country, there is no place for crimes against humanity.”The prosecution stated that it had collected extensive evidence, including video and audio recording, interceptable phone calls, helicopters and drones, including flying data and testimony from the victims and their families.The test, a broadcast live on Bangladesh television -run Bangladesh television, marks the second hearing related to the pre -administration. The ICT court started its first such case on 25 May, in which eight police officers were targeted on the murder of six protesters on August 5, the day Hasina fled.ICT was originally established by Hasina in 2009 to try to try war crimes from the 1971 Freedom War. However, critics have long accused the tribunal of being used to target political rivals. During his tenure, several top opposition figures, especially from the Islamic Jamaat-e-Islami Party, were sentenced to death.Earlier on Sunday, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh lifted the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, making it capable of contesting future elections. In contrast, Hasina’s Awami League is banned by the interim government, which has promised to hold general elections by June 2026.