663 cases against Hasina to proceed as usual

After the International Crimes Tribunal-1 sentenced deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death for crimes against humanity during the July uprising, questions have arisen about how justice will be carried out and what will happen to the numerous other cases they face.

According to police headquarters sources, Hasina is accused in at least 663 cases nationwide, while Kamal faces 295.

The cases filed against Hasina at police stations will continue following due process. Trials will proceed in her absence. Cases are dismissed only if an accused dies.

Shahdeen Malik SC lawyer

Former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun -- who became a state witness and received a five-year prison sentence from ICT-1 -- is facing 259 cases.

After being removed from power in the wake of the mass uprising, Hasina and Kamal are currently fugitives in India.

ICT prosecutor Mizanul Islam said, "If there are cases against these three convicted individuals in other courts, each of those cases will proceed at its own pace."

Only the charges already tried by the tribunal will not proceed further, as verdicts on those counts have been delivered.

According to the ICT judgement, Hasina, 78, was sentenced to death on two counts.

She was handed the death penalty for the charge involving the shooting and killing of six unarmed protesters in Dhaka's Chankharpul on August 5 last year. In another charge, she was found guilty of ordering the shooting of six student protesters in Ashulia on the same day -- five of whom were later burned after death, while the sixth was allegedly burned alive.

She also received imprisonment until natural death for making inflammatory remarks and ordering the use of deadly weapons against protesters. She was also found guilty of ordering the killing of student protesters using helicopters, drones, and lethal weapons.

Hasina is additionally facing three more ICT cases -- two relating to enforced disappearances and one over alleged mass killings at Motijheel's Shapla Chattar in 2013.

Kamal faces two enforced disappearance cases. Prosecutors have also urged the tribunal to dispose of another July uprising-related case filed against Mamun.

Police sources said most of the cases against Hasina and Kamal filed with various police stations involve murder allegations.

They also face accusations of attempted murder, attacks and vandalism, assault, arson, and intimidation.

Senior Supreme Court lawyer Shahdeen Malik said the cases filed against them at police stations will continue following due process. Trials will proceed in their absence, as in similar cases before.

He explained that cases are dismissed only if an accused dies.

"For example, if someone is facing three theft cases and is already serving a five-year prison sentence in one of them, the other two cases will still continue. When those hearings come up, the accused is brought from prison to court.

"Now imagine the accused falls ill in prison and dies three years later. In that case, the remaining two cases would be dismissed. Likewise, if a death sentence is carried out and the accused dies, any ongoing cases against them would also be dismissed," Malik explained.