Bangladesh: first trial begins for Hasina-era officials, police

The court accepted a formal charge against eight officials in connection to the killing of six protesters on August 5 last year

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Police personnel escort detained policemen charged with crimes against humanity to the International Crimes Tribunal ICT court in Dhaka on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:37pm, 25 May 2025Updated: 8:20am, 26 May 2025

Bangladesh began the first trial on Sunday at a special court prosecuting former senior figures connected to the ousted government of Sheikh Hasina, the chief prosecutor said.

The court in the capital Dhaka accepted a formal charge against eight police officials in connection to the killing of six protesters on August 5 last year, the day Hasina fled the country as protesters stormed her palace.

The eight men are charged with crimes against humanity. Four are in custody and four are being tried in absentia.

“The formal trial has begun,” Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor of Bangladesh’s domestic International Crimes Tribunal, told reporters.

“The prosecution believes that this prosecution will be able to prove the crimes done by the accused,” he said.

It is the first formal charge in any case related to the killings during last year’s student-led uprising, which ended Hasina’s iron-fisted rule of 15 years.

Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 when Hasina’s government launched a brutal campaign to silence the protesters, according to the United Nations.

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