The Bangladesh court ordered an investigation into the murder of Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister of Bangladesh. This is the first case registered against Hasina since she was ousted from power amid nationwide protests and fled the country.
A court in Bangladesh has opened a murder investigation into former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and six senior figures in her administration over the police killing of a man during civil unrest last month.
The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court in the capital Dhaka on Tuesday accepted the case after private citizen Amir Hamza filed a legal case over the killing of grocer Abu Saeed, Hamza's lawyer Anwarul Islam said.
On July 19, Saeed was shot after police opened fire on students and other people protesting against quotas in government jobs in Mohammadpur area of Dhaka. Hamza said that he is not related to Saeed but voluntarily approached the court because Saeed's family did not have the finances to file the case.
He accused Hasina of being behind the police firing, who had demanded strong action to quell the violence. “I am the first common citizen who has the courage to take this legal action for Sheikh Hasina's crimes. "I will see the case till it ends," Hamza told the news agency.
Former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, general secretary of Hasina's Awami League party Obaidul Quader and four top government-appointed police officers are also accused in the court.
The student leaders who led the protest movement have repeatedly demanded that the former prime minister face trial for the alleged killings. This is the first case filed against Hasina following weeks of riots that have left more than 300 people dead. The former government was accused of widespread human rights abuses, including the unlawful killing of thousands of political opponents.
The 76-year-old former prime minister fled to neighboring India in a helicopter on August 5, after being opposed by the army. Then Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus was sworn in last week as the head of Bangladesh's interim government ahead of elections.
