DHAKA:Witnesses in the trial of Bangladesh’s fugitive ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday detailed horrific violence and denial of medical treatment, speaking on the eve of the anniversary of her ouster.
Hasina, 77, fled Bangladesh by helicopter on Aug. 5, 2024, after weeks of student-led protests against her rule.
She has defied court orders to return from India to attend her trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity, over the deadly crackdown on the uprising.
Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024, according to the UN.
BACKGROUND
• Sheikh Hasina, 77, fled Bangladesh by helicopter on Aug. 5, 2024, after weeks of student-led protests against her rule.
• She has defied court orders to return from India to attend her trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity.
Philosophy student Abdullah Al-Imran, 25, said his left leg had been blasted “wide open” by gunshot during the protests, describing how it had been left “barely attached to the rest of my body by a thin layer of skin.”
Imran told the court how, when Hasina visited the hospital ward where he was recovering, he told her he had been shot by the police.
He said he overheard Hasina give the order of “no release, no treatment,” referring to injured protesters.
“I didn’t understand the meaning of the order at first, but later I did — as my surgery was repeatedly delayed,” Imran said, adding he was not given the right antibiotics, and his parents were blocked from moving him to a private hospital.
“My leg started to rot,” he said, and showed the court his still bandaged leg.
Prosecutors have filed five charges against Hasina — including failure to prevent mass murder — which amount to crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law.
Hasina is on trial in absentia alongside two other accused, her former Interior Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, also a fugitive, and ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who is in custody and has pleaded guilty.
Hasina is defended by a state-appointed lawyer, but she has refused to accept the authority of the court.
Another witness on Monday described how she was blinded in one eye when police fired at close range, the third to give evidence detailing the brutality of the crackdown.
The trial continues, although no hearing will be held on Tuesday, which has been declared a public holiday to mark the one-year anniversary of Hasina’s downfall.
Mohammed Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner leading the caretaker government, is due to release a slate of democratic overhauls.
