The International Crimes Tribunal has set September 3 for the next hearing in the crimes against humanity case against ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 41 others over the violence surrounding the Hefazat-e-Islam rally at Shapla Chattar in Motijheel, Dhaka.
A three-member bench of International Crimes Tribunal-2, headed by Chairman Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, set the date on Sunday.
Prosecutor Zahirul Amin represented the prosecution at the hearing, assisted by prosecutors Faruk Ahmed and Shahidul Islam Sardar.
Zahirul told the tribunal that arrest warrants had been issued against Sheikh Hasina and 30 others in the case. However, law enforcement agencies could not locate the accused after visiting their permanent and temporary addresses.
He said reports had been received for 20 of the accused, while reports for the others were still pending.
He also said Hasanul Haque Inu, who has been convicted in another crimes against humanity case, and Abdur Razzaque, who is detained in another case, were not produced before the tribunal as production warrants had not been issued. The prosecution therefore sought time for the next hearing.
The tribunal subsequently set September 3 for submission of the non-execution reports (NERs) against the two accused and consideration of the production warrants.
Nine accused were produced before the tribunal on Sunday. They are Dipu Moni, Shamsul Haque Tuku, Abdul Latif Siddiqui, Ziaul Ahsan, Shahidul Haque, Shahriar Kabir, Abdul Jalil Mandal, Farzana Rupa and Mozammel Babu.
On July 27, the tribunal took cognizance of the formal charges against the 41 accused and set Sunday for the production of arrest warrants and appearance of the detained accused. The prosecution had submitted the formal charges earlier that day.
The case contains two charges. The first concerns the killing of 32 people at Shapla Chattar in Dhaka on May 5, 2013. The second concerns the killing of 20 people in Siddhirganj, Narayanganj, and other incidents in different parts of the country on May 6.
