DHAKA: Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam on Saturday said trials against “top commanders” who are accused of crimes against humanity, including former PM Sheikh Hasina, would be completed “within a year”.
Speaking at a national dialogue organised by the Forum for Bangladesh Studies, Tajul said he had spoken to chief adviser Muhammad Yunus two days ago and was told that there are “several priorities”.
The chief prosecutor claimed that Yunus told him that “the biggest priority is the trial of those who turned the country into a paradise of murder and disappearance, who stained the soil of Bangladesh with the blood of students.”
“Top commanders or top criminals” are usually tried for crimes against humanity, Tajul said and described Hasina as the “nucleus” of the killings during the July-Aug student-led uprising.
He said Hasina and some of her subordinates are being given “priority” in the trials. The aim is to complete their trials as soon as possible, and the ICT has that capability. “The cases of the main accused in the ICT and the trials of all of them can be completed within the next one year,” Tajul said.