The International Crimes Tribunal on Wednesday sent Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s former deputy commissioner for Mirpur Zone, Md Jashim Uddin Molla, to jail in a case of crimes against humanity during the July-August students’ movement against discrimination in the capital’s Mirpur area.
Jashim is the first suspect to be brought before the reconstituted tribunal under the interim government following the fall of the Awami League regime amid a student-mass uprising on August 5.
The tribunal, comprising Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, Justice Md Shofiul Alam Mahmood, and retired district judge M Mohitul Hoque Anam Chowdhury, passed the order after the police produced Jashim before the tribunal at about 4:30pm, hours after he was arrested at a location in Rangpur.
‘As investigations continue, detention is necessary for a thorough and effective inquiry,’ said the presiding judge, Justice Golam Mortuza.
Chief prosecutor Md Tajul Islam informed the court that Jashim was arrested at Rangpur early Wednesday by the Rangpur police, two days after the tribunal had on October 27 issued warrants for arresting 17 high-ranking officers in connection with the Mirpur atrocities.
Jashim was then handed over to Gopalganj police authorities before taken to the tribunal.
The prosecution alleged that Jashim, as the deputy commissioner for Mirpur zone, was involved in mass killings and other crimes during the student-led movement.
‘Over 35 cases have been filed regarding the killings and violence across Mirpur zone, and multiple complaints against Jashim and other high-ranking officers are lodged with the tribunal,’ Tajul said.
Wearing a sleeveless black shirt and trousers, Jashim appeared visibly distressed as he was placed in the tribunal’s lockup minutes after 3:30pm.
He stood up as the judges entered. He had no lawyer to represent him.
Journalists, prosecutors, and a few lawyers witnessed the brief hearing.
After the session, Jashim’s wife and two children were permitted to meet with him in a room adjacent to the tribunal’s lockup.
On October 27, the tribunal ordered jail authorities to produce 14 political leaders, a retired Supreme Court judge, five former police officers, and a dismissed army officer before it on November 18 and November 20 on charges of crimes against humanity linked to the student-people uprising that overthrew Sheikh Hasina from power.
The tribunal also issued warrants for the arrest of ex-DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman and 16 other former high-ranking police officials.
Chief prosecutor Tajul Islam requested the tribunal to withhold the names of most of the implicated officers to prevent them from evading arrest.
He, however, identified key figures including former Rapid Action Battalion officer Harun-Ar-Rashid, former Special Branch chief Monirul Islam, former Detective Branch chief Harun-Or-Rashid, and former DMP deputy commissioners Biplob Kumar Sarker and Proloy Kumar Joarder.
Tajul Islam alleged that these high-ranking officers were involved in actions to suppress protesters, a strategy reportedly driven by Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League and its allies.
In his briefing, prosecutor Tajul Islam said that the tribunal’s investigators had provided a list of 70 or 75 individuals to the prosecution and they selected names from the list for seeking issuance of warrants of arrest, based on initial findings.
Interim government law adviser Asif Nazrul had recently reported to the press that at least 1,500 students and civilians were killed and thousands injured during the July-August movement following orders for indiscriminate firing by the then Awami League government.
The Awami League, after assuming power in January 2009, established two tribunals to prosecute those accused of crimes against humanity during the country’s Liberation War in 1971.
These tribunals concluded a total of 55 cases, primarily involving top leaders of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.
They have been dormant since February 12, 2024.
