Two former ministers of the Awami League government, Amir Hossain Amu and Kamrul Islam, have been brought before the International Crimes Tribunal on allegations of genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the anti-discrimination student movement and the subsequent mass uprising.
At precisely 10:20am on Wednesday (4 December), the two accused were transported to the tribunal premises in a prison van.
Following the warrant issued in Case No. 03/2024 of the tribunal, both ministers were placed in the tribunal’s detention cell.
They are to be presented before a three-member tribunal bench led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza for further proceedings.
The prosecution team, comprising BM Sultan Mahmud and Gazi Monowar Hossain Tamim, will lead the hearing in the tribunal's prosecution chamber.
Amir Hossain Amu was apprehended by Dhaka Metropolitan Detective Police (DB) on 6 November from the Dhanmondi area. Kamrul Islam, a former food minister and a member of the Awami League's Presidium, was arrested by detectives on 18 November in Uttara.
According to reports, several hundred allegations of genocide and crimes against humanity, occurring between 5 July and 5 August, have already been submitted to the tribunal’s investigation agency and prosecution office.
The judicial proceedings at the tribunal formally commenced on 17 October with the issuance of arrest warrants against 46 individuals, including former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Thus far, the tribunal has ordered the incarceration of nine former ministers, two advisors, a retired justice, and a former secretary from the Awami League government on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.
