Dhaka – Fifteen Bangladesh army officers accused of crimes against humanity will be held in a sub-jail, court officials said on Wednesday. The order was issued after the officers were produced before the International Crimes Tribunal on a scheduled hearing over the charges.
The tribunal, which earlier this month issued arrest warrants for the officers, is trying them for alleged involvement in enforced disappearances and torture during the previous 15-and-a-half-year rule of the Awami League government.
A total of 25 serving and retired officers were named in two related cases, with former prime minister Sheikh Hasina listed as a key accused.
The officers also face charges in a separate case related to the violent suppression of last year’s mass uprising, which ousted Hasina.
Defense lawyer M Sarwar Hossain spoke to reporters after the accused were returned to a prison van. The officers, transported in a green prison vehicle, were brought to the court early in the morning and left the premises around 10 am.
On October 8, the prosecution formally submitted charges in these three cases to the tribunal. Three days later, on October 11, the army headquarters announced that 15 serving officers had been taken into military custody. One of these officers is on Leave Preparatory to Retirement (LPR).
Subsequently, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification on October 12 declaring ‘MES Building No. 54’ within the Dhaka Cantonment as a temporary prison, a move presumably made at the request of the army headquarters.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Human Rights office and local right groups urged the government to put the army officers to civilian court as there was debate whether the serving army officers should be tried in civilian court.
The three-member tribunal, led by Justice Md. Golam Martuza Majumdar and including Justices Md. Shafiqul Alam Mahmud and Md. Mohitul Haque Enam Chowdhury, held its first hearing on Wednesday and ordered the officers to be sent to jail around 8:30 am.
The officers ordered to be sent to jail are: Major General Sheikh Md. Sarwar Hossain, Brigadier General Md. Jahangir Alam, Brigadier General Tofayel Mostafa Sarwar, Brigadier General Md. Kamrul Hasan, Brigadier General Md. Mahabub Alam, Brigadier General Md. Mahbubur Rahman Siddiqui, Brigadier General Ahmed Tanvir Mazhar Siddiqui, Brigadier KM Azad, Colonel Abdullah Al Momen, Colonel Anwar Latif Khan (on Leave Preparatory to Retirement), Lieutenant Colonel Md. Mashiur Rahman, Lieutenant Colonel Saiful Islam Sumon, Lieutenant Colonel Md. Sarwar Bin Kashem, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Redwanul Islam and Major Md. Rafat-bin-Alam.
These officers served in key positions during the Hasina regime between 2009 and 2024.
