The prosecution on Thursday asked International Crimes Tribunal-2 to frame charges against ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 40 others over the alleged killing of 52 people during the May 2013 crackdown on a Hefazat-e-Islam gathering at Shapla Chattar in Dhaka.
The application, submitted after a lengthy hearing, brings the crimes against humanity case another step closer to trial, more than 13 years after security forces cleared the Islamist organisation's rally from Motijheel.
Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam alleged that law enforcement personnel and armed Awami League activists carried out the killings and violence on May 5 and 6, 2013, leaving 52 people dead and approximately 10,000 injured.
The prosecution presented a 22-minute documentary, a list of the alleged victims and excerpts from a book by a former police chief that it said implicated Hasina in directing the operation.
The hearing also saw heated exchanges in the courtroom, with three prominent accused protesting the chief prosecutor's description of the killings.
Another accused, former Major General Ziaul Ahsan, refused to wear handcuffs while being brought from prison and later declared to journalists: "Victory will be ours. Nobody can stop it."
The hearing began at around 2 pm before a three-member tribunal headed by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury. Judges Md Manjurul Bashid and Noor Mohammad Shahriar Kabir are the other members.
At the outset, prosecutors screened a documentary lasting 22 minutes and 47 seconds, showing the Hefazat-e-Islam gathering, the subsequent security operation and scenes of casualties.
According to the documentary, approximately 7,500 members of the Rapid Action Battalion, police and Border Guard Bangladesh took part in an operation codenamed "Operation Flashlight".
The footage alleged that security personnel used gunfire, sound grenades and large quantities of ammunition to disperse the gathering under cover of darkness.
The prosecution also presented reports from Bangladeshi and international news organisations, including excerpts from an Al Jazeera investigation.
Citing those reports, prosecutors alleged that bodies were removed after the operation and that attempts were made to conceal the actual death toll.
The allegations have been placed before the tribunal but have yet to be established through trial.
The documentary also featured a parliamentary statement by Hasina in which she claimed that nobody had been killed or injured during the Hefazat-e-Islam incident.
Aminul challenged that account, asking how the then-prime minister could have made such a statement in parliament after an operation that prosecutors allege resulted in dozens of deaths.
At one point, Aminul became emotional while describing the events of May 2013.
He characterised the operation as a "horrific massacre" and said it would surpass even the killings of 1971.
The comparison prompted immediate protests from three accused seated in the dock: JASAD President and former Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu, former Food Minister Abdur Razzaque and writer and activist Shahriar Kabir.
The three began shouting in protest as the chief prosecutor continued his submissions.
Aminul again questioned Hasina's claim that nobody had been killed or injured.
He then referred to a book written by former Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque, who is himself an accused in the case.
According to Aminul, the book states that actions relating to the Hefazat-e-Islam operation were carried out on Hasina's instructions.
The prosecution intends to submit the book as evidence.
Prosecutors also placed before the tribunal a list identifying 52 people allegedly killed during the crackdown and related violence.
Of the 41 accused, 11 were produced before the tribunal from prison on Thursday.
They included Hasanul Haq Inu; former State Minister for Home Affairs Shamsul Haque Tuku; former Food Minister Abdur Razzaque; former ministers Dipu Moni and Abdul Latif Siddiqui; former police chief AKM Shahidul Hoque; former Major General Ziaul Ahsan; former Deputy Inspector General of Police Abdul Jalil Mandal; Shahriar Kabir, president of the Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee; Ekattor Television Managing Director Mozammel Haque Babu; and journalist Farzana Rupa.
The prosecution said the remaining 30 accused, including Hasina, were fugitives.
They include former Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir; Awami League leaders Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Mahbubul Alam Hanif, Hasan Mahmud, AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Mrinal Kanti Das, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya and Omar Faruk Chowdhury.
Former police chiefs Hassan Mahmood Khandker, Mohammad Javed Patwary and Benazir Ahmed, along with former Army Chief General Aziz Ahmed and several former senior police officers, are also among the fugitives.
The hearing had originally been scheduled for 11 am but was delayed after Ziaul Ahsan's transfer from prison took longer than expected.
At around 1:30 pm, as he was being brought out of a prison van, a police officer attempted to put handcuffs on him.
Ziaul refused.
"I will not wear these. Under which law?" he asked.
Following a brief argument, officers allowed him to leave the van without handcuffs.
At 1:58 pm, while being escorted into the courtroom, he told waiting journalists: "Victory will be ours. Nobody can stop it."
His lawyer, Nazneen Ahsan, subsequently filed an application asking that Ziaul be transported to court alongside other accused rather than in a separate prison van.
The chief prosecutor opposed attempts to delay the proceedings, alleging that various excuses were being used to obstruct the case.
He argued that arrangements for transporting prisoners and ensuring their security were matters for the prison authorities.
Aminul also suggested that if an accused refused to appear in person, the tribunal could consider allowing participation through an online hearing.
Ziaul later sought permission to address the tribunal himself.
He said he wanted to attend the hearings but did not want to be transported separately from the other accused.
The tribunal instructed prison authorities to follow normal procedures when transporting defendants to and from court.
The prosecution has brought two charges in the case.
The first concerns the alleged killing of 32 people at Shapla Chattar in Motijheel on May 5, 2013.
The second concerns the alleged killing of 20 people in Siddhirganj, Narayanganj, on May 6, along with violence and killings in other parts of the country.
The case centres on the operation to disperse Hefazat-e-Islam supporters who had gathered in Dhaka to press their demands.
The scale of the casualties and the conduct of security forces during the operation have remained contentious since 2013.
On July 27, International Crimes Tribunal-2 took cognisance of the formal charges submitted by the prosecution against the 41 accused.
The tribunal issued arrest warrants against those who remained at large and directed authorities to produce the detained accused before the court.
On September 3, it ordered notices to be published in two national newspapers directing 30 accused, including Hasina, to surrender.
Law enforcement agencies subsequently submitted reports stating that they had been unable to locate the accused at their permanent or temporary addresses.
On September 16, after the accused failed to surrender, the tribunal declared all 30 fugitives and ordered the appointment of lawyers at government expense to represent them.
The hearing on the framing of charges had initially been scheduled for November 1 but was subsequently deferred.
Thursday's proceedings concluded with the prosecution formally seeking the framing of charges, a necessary step before the trial can begin.
The tribunal has yet to determine whether the charges will be framed.
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