Thirteen former high-ranking Bangladeshi government officials arrested following the August revolution appeared in court Monday, charged with "enabling massacres." Prosecutors also reiterated their demands for the extradition of exiled former leader Sheikh Hasina.
Since Hasina's regime collapsed, dozens of her allies have been detained, accused of involvement in a police crackdown that left more than 700 dead during the unrest that led to her ouster.
Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam said the 13 defendants – 11 former ministers, a judge and a former government secretary – are held responsible for the brutal crackdown on student-led protests that ultimately toppled the regime.
Hasina, who fled to her old ally India by helicopter on Aug. 5, was also due in court in Dhaka on Monday to face charges of "massacres, killings, and crimes against humanity," but she remains a fugitive in exile.
"We have produced 13 defendants today, including 11 former ministers, a bureaucrat and a judge," Islam, the chief prosecutor of Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal, told reporters. "They are complicit in enabling massacres by participating in planning, inciting violence, ordering law enforcement officers to shoot on sight and obstructing efforts to prevent a genocide."
Around half a dozen lawyers supported the defendants, who were brought from custody and led into court surrounded by a ring of security forces to separate them from the large crowd outside.
Hasina's 15-year tenure saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.
The charges the 13 face are so far limited to the police crackdown on student-led protests, but Islam requested more time to compile evidence stretching back further.
"The crimes that led to mass murders and genocide have occurred over the past 16 years across the country," he told reporters.
The court gave prosecutors until Dec. 17 to submit their investigation report.
'Seeking assistance'
The defendants listened to the charges read to them but were not yet asked to enter a plea.
At one point, former industry minister Kamal Ahmed Majumdar stood up and spoke, appealing to the judge that he wanted "to say something," an Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporter in the court heard. He was not allowed to speak further.
Others in court included once-powerful ex-law minister Anisul Huq, former Supreme Court judge Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, and former energy adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury.
Former social affairs minister Dipu Moni is the only woman among the 13.
Islam said efforts are being made to bring 77-year-old Hasina to Dhaka for trial, a day after interim leader Muhammad Yunus said Bangladesh was seeking her extradition.
Islam said they had contacted Interpol "seeking assistance in arresting her, as she has committed crimes against humanity."
Red notices issued by the global police body alert law enforcement agencies worldwide about fugitives.
India is a member of Interpol, but the red notice does not mean New Delhi must hand Hasina over, as each country applies its own laws to determine whether an arrest should be made.