THE country’s former police chief appeared in court, accused of overseeing a deadly crackdown in a failed bid to suppress the August revolution that toppled Sheikh Hasina’s regime.
Former police inspector general Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun was flanked by serving officers as he was led into court, where prosecutors alleged he was responsible for overseeing massacres, genocide and crimes against humanity.
Eight defendants appeared in court in Dhaka, including Ziaul Ahsan, a former commander of the feared Rapid Action Battalion paramilitary force.
Chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam from Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal said the eight men had committed crimes “that even devils dare not do”.
Islam said the former police chief was the “commander of all atrocities carried out against the student protesters”, he told reporters outside court after the hearing.
Dozens of Hasina’s allies have been taken into custody since her regime collapsed, accused of involvement in a police crackdown that killed more than 700 people during the unrest that led to her ouster.
Islam presented a detailed list of crimes allegedly committed by Ahsan that included extrajudicial killings, the dismembering of bodies and the surveillance of government critics.
The prosecution said he was also responsible for shutting down the internet during the uprising. Ahsan denied all charges.“I was not in charge of the secret detention centre and never surveilled people,” he told the court.
Former lower-ranking officers in court were accused of killing protesters and burning their corpses to destroy the evidence.
The court gave prosecutors until Dec 19 to complete their investigation report and the accused remain in custody.
The court hearing follows similar charges levelled at former top government officials on Monday, including 11 ex-minsters. — AFP
