Staff Reporter:
An eyewitness of the barbaric killing of Abu Sayed, a student of Begum Rokeya University (BRU) testi-fied yesterday as a prosecution witness against Sheikh Hasina, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and Chow-dhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, in a case of crimes against humanity.
Rina Murmu, an anti-discrimination student movement activist from the same university testified at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1.
After her deposition, Advocate Amir Hossain, state-appointed counsel for ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, cross-examined Murmu.
“I was standing near the incident and saw the shooting on Abu Sayed. I saw two policemen firing on him and later learned they were Amir (former sub-inspector of police) and Sujon Chandra (former con-stable),” the witness said.
Rina Murmu, at the end of her testimony, said she holds Sheikh Hasina, the university administration, leaders and activists of the banned Bangladesh Chhatra League and members of the Rangpur Metropoli-tan Police, who were involved in firing on the students, responsible for the killing and demanded justice.
Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal are still at large, while former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who is now an approver of the case, was present in the dock.
After Murmu, NTV journalist A K M Moinul Haque submitted deposition as another prosecution wit-ness.
The court adjourned the proceedings of the case till August 17, 2025 after submission of the two eye witnesses.
The first tribunal, led by its Chairman Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, on July 10, indicted the trio for their role in crimes against humanity committed during the July-August mass uprising.
The ICT-1 on June 17 published a notice in two national dailies, asking Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to surrender to the court on June 24.
The notice asked them to surrender to the court as per rules 31 of the International Crimes (Tribunal-1) Rules of Procedure 2010 (Amendment), 2025. Otherwise, their trial will be held in absentia as per sec-tion 10A of the ICT Act, 1973, the notice said.
On June 1, the ICT-1 took the formal charge against the trio into cognisance and had set June 16 for further order.
Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam told the court on June 16 that Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal are yet to be arrested, and police learned from different sources that they are in India right now.
The prosecution in the formal charge brought five charges against Sheikh Hasina, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun.
The investigation agency of the ICT on May 12 filed its probe report in the crimes against humanity and mass killing case.
