Shapla Chattar case: Inu, Dipu Moni among 11 accused brought before tribunal
Eleven arrested accused, including Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) president Hasanul Haq Inu and former minister Dr Dipu Moni, were produced before the International Crimes Tribunal on Wednesday in a case filed over alleged crimes against humanity during the Hefazat-e-Islam rally at Shapla Chattar in Dhaka’s Motijheel in 2013.
The accused were brought to the tribunal from different prisons in prison vans under tight security.
The three-member Tribunal-2 bench, headed by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, is scheduled to hear the prosecution’s arguments on framing charges against the accused.
The other accused produced before the tribunal are former state minister for home Shamsul Haque Tuku, former food minister Dr Abdur Razzaque, former minister Abdul Latif Siddique, former inspector general of police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque, former army officer Major General (retd) Ziaul Ahsan, former deputy inspector general Abdul Jalil Mondal, Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee president Shahriar Kabir, 71 TV Managing Director Mozammel Haque Babu and journalist Farzana Rupa.
The case names 41 people as accused, of whom 30 are absconding. Former prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been named the main accused.
Among the other accused are former ministers Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Mahbubul Alam Hanif, Dr Hasan Mahmud, AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Mofazzel Hossain Chowdhury Maya and Mrinal Kanti Das, as well as former state minister Omar Faruk Chowdhury and former minister Salahuddin Mahmud.
Former army chief General Aziz Ahmed, former IGP Benazir Ahmed, former IGP Hasan Mahmud Khandaker, former police chief Dr Mohammad Javed Patwari, former RAB director general Md Mukhlesur Rahman, former DIG Harun-or-Rashid and former police officials Biplab Kumar Sarker are also among the accused.
Gonojagaran Mancha spokesperson Dr Imran H Sarker has also been named in the case.
According to the prosecution documents, the case involves two main charges against all 41 accused. The first alleges the killing of 32 people at Shapla Chattar on May 5, 2013, during the Hefazat rally. The second concerns alleged killings in different parts of the country, including the deaths of 20 people in Siddhirganj, Narayanganj, on May 6.
On July 27, Tribunal-2 took cognisance of the prosecution’s formal charges and issued arrest warrants against the absconding accused.
On September 3, the tribunal ordered notices to be published in two national dailies asking Sheikh Hasina and the other 29 absconding accused to surrender. As law enforcement agencies failed to locate them, they later submitted non-execution reports to the tribunal.
On September 16, the tribunal declared all 30 accused absconders, appointed state-funded lawyers to represent them and fixed October 7 for the hearing on framing charges.