ICT Issues Notice To Gather Evidence On July-August Genocide

The investigation agency of the International Crimes Tribunal has issued a public notice in various newspapers to collect information regarding the genocide that occurred between July and August.

Today, Saturday (October 19), this public notice was released, signed by the coordinator of the investigation agency, Mazharul Haque.

The notice states that from July 1 to August 5, various forces of the then-government, along with the Awami League-led coalition parties, affiliated organizations, and illegal armed individuals or groups, perpetrated killings, serious injuries, arson, looting, and other crimes aimed at suppressing the student-led movement. The investigation agency specifically requests anyone with information, documents, photographs, audio/video clips, etc., related to these crimes to contact the Dhaka office of the International Crimes Tribunal. It assures the public that necessary confidentiality will be maintained.

On August 5, the Awami League government toppled down due to the student-led uprising. To suppress the movement, the government carried out indiscriminate killings, resulting in the deaths of nearly one and a half thousand people. Following the end of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's 15-year rule, an interim government led by Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus took charge of the country and decided to prosecute the genocide that took place in July and August.

In this context, on October 17, the International Crimes Tribunal officially began the trial proceedings for all killings, genocides, extrajudicial killings, and the BDR (Border Guards Bangladesh) killings during Sheikh Hasina's authoritarian rule. The bench, led by Tribunal Chairman Justice Md. Golam Mortuza, issued an arrest warrant against Sheikh Hasina on that day, instructing that she be arrested and presented in the tribunal by November 18.