The International Crimes Tribunal has ordered 30 accused, including ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, former army chief General Aziz Ahmed and former inspector general of police Benazir Ahmed, to surrender to the tribunal by September 16.
The order came in a case filed over alleged crimes against humanity in connection with the Shapla Chattar massacre.
A newspaper notice has been issued in this regard.
The judicial panel of Tribunal-2, headed by Chairman Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, passed the order on Thursday following a prosecution petition.
Earlier in the morning, the accused who are currently in custody were brought to the tribunal in prison vans amid tight security.
Eleven accused were scheduled to be produced before the tribunal on August 16. However, the prosecution sought more time, saying production warrants had not been issued against two of the accused and the non-execution reports (NERs) concerning those against whom arrest warrants had been issued had not been received.
The tribunal subsequently fixed Thursday for the proceedings.
On July 27, Tribunal-2 took cognizance of the formal complaint filed by the prosecution against 41 accused. It also issued arrest warrants against the absconding accused and ordered those in custody to be produced before the tribunal.
The case involves two charges. The first relates to the alleged killing of 32 people at Shapla Chattar in Dhaka’s Motijheel on May 5, 2013, during a Hefazat-e-Islam rally.
The second charge relates to alleged killings in different parts of the country, including the deaths of 20 people in Siddhirganj, Narayanganj, on May 6, 2013.