Wednesday, 01 October, 2025
During the student-led uprising of July–August 2024, law enforcement and armed cadres of the then-ruling Awami League unleashed a brutal campaign of killings across 438 locations in 41 of the country’s 64 districts, the investigation officer in the case told the International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) on Tuesday.
Mohammad Alamgir, the 54th witness in the high-profile trial against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, revealed the staggering scale of violence.
Police alone fired 305,311 rounds of ammunition during the uprising, with nearly one-third discharged in Dhaka. These figures do not include rounds reportedly used by the BGB or Army.
Alamgir said the attacks—including killings, abductions, assaults, and torture—were aimed squarely at clinging to power. He added that over the past 15 years, successive AL governments relied on extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, rigged elections, and other coercive measures to suppress dissent, fuelling widespread public anger that erupted in the 2024 student protests.
Portions of the IO’s testimony were broadcast live on BTV, and evidence included videos previously aired by BBC and Al Jazeera documenting atrocities during the movement. Families of martyred protesters also gave testimony, alongside key witnesses including Nahid Islam, convenor of the National Citizens’ Party, and Dr Mahmudur Rahman, editor of Amar Desh.
The tribunal formally indicted Sheikh Hasina, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and Chowdhury Mamun on 10 July. Chowdhury Mamun later turned approver, confessing to crimes to assist the tribunal. Sheikh Hasina faces two other cases at the ICT: one over enforced disappearances and killings during her 15-and-a-half-year rule, and another concerning fatalities at the Motijheel Shapla Chattar Hefazat-e-Islam rally.
The testimony paints a damning picture of a government that unleashed lethal force to crush dissent, leaving an indelible mark on the nation’s recent political history.
Comments
During the student-led uprising of July–August 2024, law enforcement and armed cadres of the then-ruling Awami League unleashed a brutal campaign of killings across 438 locations in 41 of the country’s 64 districts, the investigation officer in the case told the International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) on Tuesday.
Mohammad Alamgir, the 54th witness in the high-profile trial against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, revealed the staggering scale of violence.
Police alone fired 305,311 rounds of ammunition during the uprising, with nearly one-third discharged in Dhaka. These figures do not include rounds reportedly used by the BGB or Army.
Alamgir said the attacks—including killings, abductions, assaults, and torture—were aimed squarely at clinging to power. He added that over the past 15 years, successive AL governments relied on extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, rigged elections, and other coercive measures to suppress dissent, fuelling widespread public anger that erupted in the 2024 student protests.
Portions of the IO’s testimony were broadcast live on BTV, and evidence included videos previously aired by BBC and Al Jazeera documenting atrocities during the movement. Families of martyred protesters also gave testimony, alongside key witnesses including Nahid Islam, convenor of the National Citizens’ Party, and Dr Mahmudur Rahman, editor of Amar Desh.
The tribunal formally indicted Sheikh Hasina, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and Chowdhury Mamun on 10 July. Chowdhury Mamun later turned approver, confessing to crimes to assist the tribunal. Sheikh Hasina faces two other cases at the ICT: one over enforced disappearances and killings during her 15-and-a-half-year rule, and another concerning fatalities at the Motijheel Shapla Chattar Hefazat-e-Islam rally.
The testimony paints a damning picture of a government that unleashed lethal force to crush dissent, leaving an indelible mark on the nation’s recent political history.
Comments
