Dhaka [Bangladesh], October 14 : The Bangladesh home ministry on Monday declared a building in Dhaka Cantonment a temporary prison after taking 15 army officers into custody.
Although the army took these officers into their custody, they were not shown as arrested. It is believed that they will be held in this temporary prison after being shown arrested.
Earlier on October 8, Bangladesh's International Crime Tribunal (ICT) issued warrants against 30 accused, including former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in two separate cases of crimes against humanity committed through enforced disappearances during the Awami League regime.
The accused have been ordered to be arrested and produced in court by October 22. A three-member bench of the ICT led by Justice Md. Golam Mortuza Majumder issued the order on Wednesday.
Apart from Hasina, those against whom arrest warrants have been issued include former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and retired Major General Tariq Ahmed Siddique, the former Prime Minister's defence adviser, and former police chief Benzir Ahmed. 27 of the remaining defendants are former and serving army officers.
Subsequently, fifteen of the army officers against whom arrest warrants have been issued for alleged involvement in "disappearances and crimes against humanity" during Sheikh Hasina's tenure have been taken into military custody. Major General Kabir Ahmed, who served Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as military secretary, was hiding.
"The police are responsible for arresting the accused. They will present the accused before the tribunal within 24 hours of arrest. The tribunal will direct where the accused will be kept", Tajul Islam, Chief Prosecutor of ICT, told the reporters.
"The government can declare any place in the country as a temporary prison", he added.
Sheikh Hasina's government had set up ICT for the trial of war criminals of the 1971 war against Pakistan. Ironically, now the interim government is holding the trial of Hasina and her aides at ICT after the amendment of its legal framework.
In Bangladesh, a student-led uprising in August 2024 forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to India. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took over as head of an interim government.
The 15 officers taken into custody by the Bangladesh Army include officers of the ranks of Major General, Brigadier General, Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel.
In 2007-2008, the then army-backed government declared two houses in the parliament building area as temporary prisons for the two leaders, Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia.
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