ICT seeks red notice for Hasina’s arrest

The chief prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal has sought an Interpol red notice for the arrest of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Chief Prosecutor Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam’s office on Sunday wrote to the Interpol through the inspector general of police (IGP).

Hasina is accused of committing crimes against humanity and she is a fugitive, he told reporters in front of his office yesterday, adding that the IGP would forward the letter to the international organisation which facilitates worldwide police cooperation.

“There is an arrest warrant for her [in Bangladesh]…. We requested Interpol to arrest her or at least issue a red notice,” he said.

A red notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action, according to the Interpol website.

Over 100 complaints of crimes against humanity have been filed against Hasina, said prosecutors.

Tajul said the tribunal also issued arrest warrants for four absconding police officers on charges of committing atrocities in the capital’s Jatrabari during the mass uprising.

“Journalists and citizens filmed how a young man, injured in the leg, was rescued by his colleague and was being taken away, when Zakir Hossain, then officer-in-charge of Jatrabari Police Station, went close to them and shot him in the chest to ensure his death,” he said.

The tribunal has also granted permission to the prosecutors to interrogate Maj Gen (sacked) Ziaul Ahsan, now in jail, for a day.

The three-judge panel of the ICT led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder gave the permission.

The date of Ziaul’s interrogation will not be revealed for security concerns, he said.

“He was involved in numerous murders and enforced disappearances. The ICT probe body has evidence,” he said.