Sheikh Hasina’s government was accused of widespread human rights abuses. (File)
Dhaka:
A court in Bangladesh on Tuesday opened a murder investigation into ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and six top figures in her government, following the police killing of a man during civil unrest last month.
Hasina, 76, fled a week ago by helicopter to neighboring India, where she remains, as protesters flooded the streets of Dhaka, marking a dramatic end to her ironclad tenure.
More than 450 people were killed during the weeks of unrest leading up to her overthrow.
“A case has been filed against Sheikh Hasina and six others,” said Mamun Mia, a lawyer who filed the case on behalf of a private citizen.
He added that the Dhaka Metropolitan Court had ordered police to accept “the murder case against the suspects”, the first step in a criminal investigation under Bangladeshi law.
Mia’s court filing also named Hasina’s former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and Obaidul Quader, the general secretary of Hasina’s Awami League party.
It also names four top police officers appointed by Hasina’s government who have since left their posts.
The case accuses the seven of responsibility for the death of a supermarket owner, who was shot dead on July 19 by police violently suppressing protests.
The Daily Star newspaper reported that the case was filed on behalf of Amir Hamza Shatil, a resident of the area where the shooting took place and a “well-wisher” of the victim.
– ‘We do not deny this’ –
Hasina’s government was accused of widespread human rights violations, including the extrajudicial killings of thousands of her political opponents.
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus returned from Europe three days after Hasina’s ouster to head an interim government that faced the monumental challenge of steering democratic reforms.
The 84-year-old won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his groundbreaking work in microfinance, and is credited with lifting millions of Bangladeshis out of grinding poverty.
He took over as “chief adviser” to an interim government – all but Home Minister Sakhawat Hossain, a retired brigadier general – and has said he wants to hold elections “within a few months”.
Hossain said on Monday that the government has no intention of banning Hasina’s Awami League, which played a crucial role in the country’s independence movement.
“The party has contributed a lot to Bangladesh – we don’t deny that,” he told reporters on Monday.
“When the elections come, (they should) contest the elections.”
AFP has contacted the interim administration for comment.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
