Sheikh Hasina’s government has been accused of widespread human rights violations. (File)
Dhaka:
A court in Bangladesh opened a murder investigation into ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and six senior figures in her government on Tuesday over the police killing of a man during civil unrest last month.
Hasina, 76, fled by helicopter to neighboring India a week ago, where she remains, as protesters flooded the streets of Dhaka, in a dramatic end to her iron-fisted rule.
More than 450 people were killed during the weeks of unrest that led to his overthrow.
“A case has been opened against Sheikh Hasina and six others,” said Mamun Mia, a lawyer who opened the case on behalf of a citizen.
He added that the Dhaka Metropolitan Court ordered the police to accept “the murder case against the accused”, the first step in a criminal investigation under Bangladeshi law.
Mia’s court filing also named Hasina’s former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and Obaidul Quader, general secretary of Hasina’s Awami League party.
It also names four senior police officials appointed by Hasina’s government who have since left their posts.
The case accuses the seven of responsibility for the death of a grocery store owner who was shot dead on July 19 by police who were violently repressing protests.
The Daily Star newspaper reported that the case was brought in the name of Amir Hamza Shatil, a resident of the neighborhood where the shooting occurred and a “sympathizer” of the victim.
– ‘We don’t deny that’ –
Hasina’s government has been accused of widespread human rights violations, including the extrajudicial killing of thousands of her political opponents.
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus returned from Europe three days after Hasina’s ouster to head a temporary administration facing the monumental challenge of carrying out democratic reforms.
The 84-year-old won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his pioneering work in microfinance and is credited with helping millions of Bangladeshis lift themselves out of extreme poverty.
He took on the role of “chief adviser” to a provisional administration – all civilian counterparts except Interior Minister Sakhawat Hossain, a retired brigadier general – and said he wants to hold elections “within a few months”.
Hossain said on Monday that the government had no intention of banning Hasina’s Awami League, which played a key role in the country’s independence movement.
“The party has made a lot of contributions to Bangladesh – we don’t deny that,” he told reporters on Monday.
“When the election comes, (they should) contest the elections.”
AFP has contacted the interim administration for comment.
(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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