Hasina Allegedly Suppressed Opposition Like Hitler

Sheikh Hasina.

Mahmudur Rahman, editor of Amar Desh, testified Monday before the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) as a prosecution witness in a case against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and two aides.

The ICT-1 bench, led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mojumder, recorded the testimony in the case concerning crimes committed during the 2024 mass uprising. Former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and ex-inspector general Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun are co-accused.

National Citizen Party convener and former adviser Nahid Islam is scheduled to testify on Tuesday. So far, 46 witnesses have given statements. Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam said arguments will begin after the final two testimonies, including Nahid’s.

Mahmudur Rahman alleged that during her autocratic regime, Hasina suppressed opposition “like Hitler.” He claimed both Hasina and her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, harboured anti-military sentiments.

Referring to the 2009 BDR carnage at Peelkhana, Rahman said Hasina sought to control the judiciary, evicting former PM Khaleda Zia and abolishing the caretaker government system.

The tribunal formally took cognisance of charges against the three accused on 1 June and indicted them on 10 July, ordering the trial to proceed. Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun has expressed willingness to become a state witness.

Two other ICT cases against Hasina are pending, concerning disappearances and killings during the Awami League’s 15-and-a-half-year rule and the 2013 Motijheel Shapla Chattar killings of Hefazat activists.