Two years after the July uprising, the International Crimes Tribunal has delivered verdicts in six cases over killings during the movement, while many investigations and prominent cases remain pending, according to tribunal and prosecution sources.
The source report says 16 people, including former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, have been sentenced to death in those cases and 61 people have received prison terms of varying lengths. These are judicial outcomes reported by the source; appeals or other legal proceedings are not addressed in the report.
Cases over the deaths of Wasim, Mir Mugdha, Golam Nafiz and Ashabul Yamin have not yet begun, while many other investigations remain unresolved. Relatives of victims and injured July protesters called for faster justice.
Seven cases are currently taking testimony before the two tribunals, with 61 people named as accused, tribunal-register sources said. The report names Sajeeb Wazed Joy, Salman F. Rahman, former ministers Kamrul Islam, Amir Hossain Amu, Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Junaid Ahmed Palak among them.
A case against six people including suspended Awami League joint general secretary Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif over killings in Kushtia is awaiting a verdict, the report says. In another case against seven people including suspended party general secretary Obaidul Quader, closing arguments have begun after testimony.
Testimony has concluded in the case over the killing of police officer Imam Hossain Tayim in Jatrabari, and two cases over the deaths of Wasim and Mir Mugdha are at the charge-framing stage, according to the report. Forty-six miscellaneous cases are under investigation.
Prosecution sources said 109 of 590 complaints over killings nationwide had been screened and sent to the investigation agency.
Prosecutor Aminul Islam said investigations and testimony take time, with more than 20 witnesses heard in each case. He said three more verdicts could come next month and the prosecution aimed to complete investigations and trials in all July killing cases within a year.
The report says tribunal officials attributed 1,400 deaths, several thousand serious injuries and 537 cases of vision loss to violence during the July 2024 uprising. Those figures are reported allegations and are not independently verified in the article.
It says the two tribunals have issued six verdicts since they were formed or reconstituted after the uprising. Of the 61 people sentenced in the six cases, 40 are fugitives and 21 are in custody, according to the report.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report