New Delhi: The Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) has criticised the convictions handed down by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, calling the verdict “a political farce” and a violation of international fair-trial standards.
Hasina and Khan were sentenced to death in absentia, while former inspector general of police Al-Mamun received five years’ imprisonment.
The RRAG said the proceedings did not meet basic international legal norms and amounted to a “miscarriage of justice”.
RRAG director Suhas Chakma said the trial of Hasina in absentia breached established human-rights standards.
He argued that Bangladesh did not pursue standard legal procedures to seek her extradition from India.
“If Bangladesh had any evidence, it could have approached the Supreme Court of India,” he said, citing India’s long legal battles for the extradition of Abu Salem from Portugal and Mehul Choksi from Belgium.
“Instead, the interim government chose a Kangaroo Court trial,” he alleged.
Chakma questioned the charges framed against Hasina, which include the killings of a student near Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur and multiple protesters in Dhaka and Ashulia last year.
“How could the former Prime Minister be charged without the actual perpetrators being named in the chargesheet?” he asked.
He added that Al-Mamun could not have served as an approver because “he was not present at the crime scenes”.
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The rights group also objected to the tribunal’s reliance on reports by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch and the BBC.
Chakma argued that such reports cannot be treated as evidence unless supported by witness testimony and corroboration, especially in cases involving the death penalty.
“There was no testimony or cross-examination of the authors of these reports. This is a miscarriage of justice for the victims because the real perpetrators are not being punished,” he said.
The Bangladesh government has not yet responded to the allegations.
