Bangladesh tribunal (AP image)

A Bangladesh court on Monday sentenced Dhaka’s fugitive former police chief and two senior officers to death for crimes against humanity over the killing of six protesters during the July 2024 mass uprising that led to the overthrow of then prime minister Sheikh Hasina.The International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) handed the death penalty to former Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner Habibur Rahman, former joint commissioner Sudip Kumar Chakrabort and former additional deputy commissioner (Ramna zone) Shah Alam Mohammad Akhtarul Islam. All three were tried in absentia and their whereabouts remain unknown, as reported by Dhaka Tribune. The verdict comes ahead of Bangladesh’s February 12 elections, the first polls since Hasina was ousted in August 2024 following weeks of mass protests.Five other former police officials were sentenced to varying prison terms. Former assistant commissioner of Ramna zone Mohammad Imrul was jailed for six years; former Shahbagh Police Station inspector (operations) Md Arshad Hossain received four years; while constables Md Sujan Mia, Md Imaz Hossain Emon and Md Nasirul Islam were sentenced to three years each. Arshad, Sujan, Imaz and Nasirul are currently in custody.The case relates to the killing of six protesters in Dhaka’s Chankharpul area on August 5, 2024, the day Sheikh Hasina fled to India as demonstrators stormed her official residence. The verdict was delivered by a three-member bench of ICT-1 comprising Justice Mozumder, Justice Md Shafiul Alam Mahmud and Judge Md Mohitul Hoque Anam Chowdhury.Reading out the verdict, tribunal chairman Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder said that the evidence proved that police opened fire with lethal weapons on protesters.“The police forces… opened fire with lethal weapons… causing death to the aforesaid six persons,” the judge told the court.The tribunal heard that Habibur Rahman sent messages to police units ordering them to use lethal force to crush the protests.Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam said that he was satisfied with the death sentences but expressed disappointment over the prison terms handed to the other five accused, according to the Dailystar. “The court said their crimes have been proved and they committed crimes against humanity,” Islam told reporters, adding that he would appeal for harsher punishment for those given jail terms.Families of the victims, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the judgment. Sanjida Khan, the mother of slain protester Shahriar Khan Anas, broke down inside the courtroom.“We can never be satisfied with this verdict. We did not get Insaaf (justice),” she said, questioning the prosecution over the sentences.Similarly, Shahid Ahmed, uncle of another victim, Md Yakub, said the lighter sentences posed a threat.“We wanted death sentence for all. Instead, some of them got three to four years’ imprisonment. After completing their terms, they will come out and might threaten us,” he said.This is the second verdict delivered by the tribunal over crimes against humanity committed during the July uprising.In November last year, the same court sentenced Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death in absentia in a separate case. Former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who confessed and turned state witness, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in that case.The Chankharpul investigation report was submitted on April 21, 2025, the first filed before the reconstituted tribunal with formal charges framed on July 14.After examining 26 witnesses over 23 working days, the tribunal concluded that the police firing was carried out on direct orders from senior officials, warranting the maximum punishment.