Dhaka, Nov 17 Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is scheduled to announce its verdict on Monday regarding the case against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and two others, who are charged with crimes against humanity related to the demonstrations in July of last year.
The other co-accused are former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former Inspector General of Police, Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who is in custody and has pleaded guilty.
The three-member Tribunal-1, headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Majumder, is slated to deliver the judgment on Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Dhaka has been placed under unprecedented security clampdown after Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Sheikh Md Sajjat Ali on Sunday evening issued a 'shoot-at-sight order' targeting individuals engaged in arson attacks, cocktail explosions or attempts to harm police and civilians ahead of the ICT verdict.
The two-day strike organised by Hasina's Awami League for November 16–17 has coincided with an increase in cocktail explosions and arson incidents throughout the capital.
In the last 48 hours, Dhaka has experienced nine incidents of arson and multiple explosions in areas such as Mirpur, Hatirjheel, Agargaon, New Eskaton, and near the Airport railway station.
Last week, Hasina dismissed the ICT, describing it as a politically motivated "hatchet job" orchestrated by her rivals.
In an interview with South China Morning Post's 'This Week in Asia' just days before her much-anticipated verdict, Hasina said the initially reasonable demonstrations "darkened into mob violence", triggering the state intervention.
Slamming the ICT over the charges against her, Hasina said, "Bangladesh's so-called International Criminal Tribunal (ICT) is neither international, nor even a tribunal. It is a judicial mockery."
"The ICT is controlled by my political opponents in order to deliver a preordained guilty verdict, in an attempt to nullify the Awami League as a political force," she added.
According to the Awami League, several observers, legal experts, and human rights advocates raised serious concerns about the ongoing case against Hasina.
The party stated that many are calling it "less a trial and more a politically motivated effort" by the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government to remove a democratically elected leader from Bangladesh's future.
"According to critics, the process shows signs of deep irregularities -- allegations of rushed judicial appointments, questionable evidence, rehearsed witnesses, and significant restrictions on the defence. They argue that this creates the appearance of a justice system being used as a tool of political pressure rather than truth-seeking," the Awami League stated.
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