Bangladesh orders fugitive ex-leader to return to face trial
DHAKA : Bangladesh's war crimes court ordered fugitive ex-leader Sheikh Hasina today to return to face trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity.
Hasina, 77, fled Dhaka by helicopter to India in August 2024 at the culmination of a student-led mass uprising.
She has defied an extradition order to return to Bangladesh.
Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasina's government launched a crackdown in a failed bid to cling to power, according to the United Nations.
Hasina and former senior figures connected to her ousted government and her now-banned party, the Awami League, are being prosecuted in Bangladesh's international crimes tribunal (ICT).
Prosecutors have filed five charges against Hasina, including abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy and failure to prevent mass murder – charges that amount to crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law.
'The court directed the prosecution team to issue a notice as soon as possible summoning them to appear before the court,' chief prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam said today.
The trial will resume on June 24 without her if she fails to return.
The prosecution argues that Hasina ordered security forces, through directives from the interior ministry and police, to crush the protests.
Hasina is on trial with two other officials.
One of them, former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who faces similar charges, is also a fugitive.
The second, ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, is in custody and was in court today.
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 said it will hold elections in April 2026, although some parties are pushing for an earlier vote.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malay Mail
4 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Federal agency director in Kelantan to face corruption, power abuse charges, says MACC chief
KOTA BARU, July 3 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will charge a director in a federal government department in Kelantan soon for alleged abuse of power, corruption and false claims. MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said the director, who is about to retire, will be charged soon after the deputy public prosecutor agreed to the proposed charges submitted by Kelantan MACC. 'I do not want to mention his name but it will be announced soon. The senior civil servant may be charged within two or three weeks from now or maybe even sooner. 'This is a continuous effort by Kelantan MACC in carrying out their responsibility to look into issues involving leakages. This is MACC's previous strategy that I have announced, where we see the issue of leakage in the country as our focus to resolve corruption issues as best as possible,' he said. He said this in a press conference after witnessing the handover ceremony of the new Kelantan MACC director, Azmin Yusoff, and the previous incumbent, Rosli Husain, here, today. Azam said since he was assigned to Kelantan from 1989 to 2000, many changes have occurred and new approaches are needed in operations, prevention and community education. 'Any action must have an impact on the community so that they feel the MACC's actions. If we are still at the same level in resolving corruption and abuse of power issues at the national or state level, it will not change. So to make the public feel our actions, we must focus. '...With the presence of efficient, experienced and highly skilled officers and staff, this strategy can be implemented nationwide,' he said. Commenting further, he said the scale of the director who will be prosecuted should be taken as a lesson. 'If the director himself is involved in a criminal issue, obviously he cannot lead and this is something we need to emphasise in the public service,' he said. Azam stressed that the investigation into the case has been completed and his party will announce the matter soon. — Bernama
Malay Mail
4 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Vietnam avoids 46pc US tariff under new trade deal, but Beijing warns against targeting China
HANOI, July 3 — Vietnam's trade deal with the US averts the most punishing of Donald Trump's 'reciprocal' levies but has provoked new friction between Washington and Beijing. Vietnam has the third-biggest trade surplus with the US of any country after China and Mexico, and was targeted with one of the highest rates in the US president's 'Liberation Day' tariff blitz on April 2. The deal announced yesterday is the first full pact Trump has sealed with an Asian nation, and analysts say it may give a glimpse of the template Washington will use with other countries still scrambling for accords. The 46 per cent rate due to take effect next week has been averted, with Vietnam set to face a minimum 20 per cent tariff in return for opening its market to US products including cars. But a 40 per cent tariff will hit goods passing through the country to circumvent steeper trade barriers — a practice called 'transshipping'. Washington has accused Hanoi of relabelling Chinese goods to skirt its tariffs, but raw materials from the world's number two economy are the lifeblood of Vietnam's manufacturing industries. 'From a global perspective, perhaps the most interesting point is that this deal again seems in large part to be about China,' said Capital Economics. It said the terms on transshipment 'will be seen as a provocation in Beijing, particularly if similar conditions are included in any other deals agreed over coming days'. Beijing's foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said today 'negotiations and agreements should not target or harm the interests of third parties'. 'Wouldn't celebrate just yet' Shares in clothing companies and sport equipment manufacturers — which have a large footprint in Vietnam — rose on news of the deal in New York. But they later declined sharply as details were released. 'This is a much better outcome than a flat 46 per cent tariff, but I wouldn't celebrate just yet,' said Hanoi-based Dan Martin, from Asian business advisory firm Dezan Shira & Associates. 'Everything now depends on how the US decides to interpret and enforce the idea of transshipment,' he added. 'If the US takes a broader view and starts questioning products that use foreign parts, even when value is genuinely added in Vietnam, it could end up affecting a lot of companies that are playing by the rules.' A Vietnam foreign ministry spokesman told reporters today that negotiators were still 'in detailed discussion to concretise agreements'. But there are scant details about the transshipment arrangements in the deal, which Trump announced on his Truth Social platform. 'The announced deal gives Vietnam a level of certainty that most other US trading partners do not have,' said American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi chief Adam Sitkoff. But, he said, 'assessing the pros and cons of the deal is difficult without seeing further details about what the tariffs actually mean'. 'The answers to these questions can be the difference between celebrating or crying.' 'The looming question' Bloomberg Economics forecast Vietnam could lose a quarter of its exports to the US in the medium term, endangering more than two per cent of its gross domestic product as a result of the agreement. 'The Vietnamese government will now find itself under pressure to ensure that country-of-origin rules are enforced,' explained Jack Sheehan, head of regional tax at Asian legal and tax firm DFDL. But uncertainty over how transshipping will be 'defined or enforced' is likely to have diplomatic repercussions, said Bloomberg Economics expert Rana Sajedi. 'The looming question now is how China will respond,' she said. 'Beijing has made clear that it would respond to deals that came at the expense of Chinese interests.' 'The decision to agree to a higher tariff on goods deemed to be 'transshipped' through Vietnam may fall in that category,' added Sajedi. 'Any retaliatory steps could have an outsized impact on Vietnam's economy.' — AFP
Malay Mail
4 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Afghan Taliban deny role in US citizen's disappearance after US$5m reward offer
KABUL, July 3 — Afghanistan's Taliban authorities today denied involvement in the disappearance of a US citizen in Kabul, after Washington announced a US$5 million (RM21 million) reward for information on his whereabouts. Mahmood Shah Habibi, an Afghan-American businessman who worked for a telecommunications firm, was abducted along with his driver in the Afghan capital in 2022, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI notice from 2024 said it was 'believed that Mr. Habibi was taken by Taliban military or security forces'. The US State Department last month said it was 'offering a reward of up to US$5 million for certain information leading to the location, recovery, and safe return' of Habibi, directly accusing the Taliban authorities' intelligence unit for his disappearance. The Taliban authorities today said they were investigating 'a petition' made by Habibi's family, describing him as an 'Afghan citizen' only. 'No evidence has been uncovered indicating that he has been detained by any entity affiliated with the Islamic Emirate,' government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement, using the Taliban authorities' name for their administration. 'As a legitimate governing authority, the Islamic Emirate has no reason to detain or conceal any individual merely suspected of criminal activity.' Mujahid 'categorically' rejected the involvement of the General Directorate of Intelligence. The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 2021, months after the US and Nato withdrew most of their forces from the country following a two-decade war against the then insurgent group. Their government has not been recognised by any country. A Taliban government spokesman did not immediately respond to request for details on the number of US citizens detained in Afghanistan. Multiple US citizens have been released from Taliban custody this year, however. In March, American woman Faye Hall was released after two months in prison after she was arrested for reportedly having an unauthorised drone. The British couple she was arrested with are still in detention. In January, the Taliban government released two Americans, Ryan Corbett and William McKenty, for an Afghan detained in the United States in an exchange mediated by Qatar. — AFP
