Bangladesh: Mass murder case: Deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sued

A petition was filed in a Bangladeshi court on Sunday (18 August 2024) seeking to frame deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 33 others on charges of committing “mass murder” by indiscriminately firing at a rally organised by Hefazat-e-Islam in Dhaka in 2013.

“Babul Sardar Chakhari, chairman of the Bangladesh People's Party (BPP), approached the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Zaki-Al-Farabi,” said the Dhaka Tribune The newspaper reported.

The complaint accused them of mass murder during the rally at Shapla Chattar in Motijheel on May 5, 2013. The court recorded the statement of the complainant and said that it would pass an order at that time.

This means that 11 cases have now been brought in Bangladesh against 76-year-old Hasina, who resigned as prime minister and fled to India on August 5 following a mass uprising, including eight for murder, one for kidnapping and two for crimes against humanity and genocide.

More than 230 people have died in Bangladesh in violence that erupted across the country following the overthrow of Hasina's government, bringing the death toll to over 600 since mass student protests against a controversial quota system for public jobs began in mid-July.

The International Criminal Court of Bangladesh launched an investigation against the former prime minister and nine others on Wednesday (August 14, 2024). They are accused of genocide and crimes against humanity. The accused are said to have committed acts that occurred between July 15 and August 5 during mass student protests against their government.

After the fall of the Hasina regime, an interim government was formed and 84-year-old Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus was appointed chief adviser.