The trial of former adviser to ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Salman F Rahman, and former law minister Anisul Huq formally began on Monday after the International Crimes Tribunal framed charges against them over allegations of inciting genocide and organising crimes against humanity during the July–August crackdown on the anti-discrimination student movement.
A three-member bench of International Crimes Tribunal-1, led by Chairman Justice Md Golam Mortuza Majumder, passed the order.
At the outset of the hearing, lawyers representing Salman F Rahman and Anisul Huq pleaded not guilty and sought their discharge from the case. After an extended hearing, the tribunal rejected the pleas. Tribunal member Justice Md Shafiul Alam Mahmud then read out the charges.
Earlier in the day, the two accused were produced before the tribunal from jail in a prison van under tight security.
The prosecution submitted the formal charges on December 4, which the tribunal took cognisance of on the same day. On January 6, senior advocate Munsurul Haque Chowdhury argued for the defence, while the chief prosecutor and other state prosecutors placed arguments in favour of framing the charges.
