Bangladesh Court Rebukes Prosecutor Over Hasina Appeal — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Bangladesh's Supreme Court formally warned ICT-BD chief prosecutor Aminul Islam against speaking publicly on matters under judicial review, issuing the rebuke during the hearing of death row convict Abul Kalam Azad's appeal.
- Aminul Islam had told reporters on Monday that neither Hasina nor Azad could challenge the verdicts because the 30-day appeal window had lapsed; after the court stepped in, he acknowledged the warning, saying, "I will not make any comments in advance from now on."
- A four-member Appellate Division bench adjourned Azad's appeal hearing for four weeks after a brief session, with Islam appearing for the state during the proceedings.
- Abul Kalam Azad, known as Bachchu Razakar, was sentenced to death in absentia by the ICT-BD in 2013 in the tribunal's first-ever verdict, fled Bangladesh, returned in January, and saw his lawyers file a delayed appeal in July along with an explanation for the late submission.
- Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia by the Yunus-led interim administration for human rights abuses after her government was toppled in the August 5, 2024 student-led uprising; she fled to India and has remained there since.
Why it matters: The rebuke forces Bangladesh's interim government back into procedural channels: its prosecutors can no longer use press conferences to publicly close off appeal avenues for Hasina or other 1971 war crimes defendants. With Azad's appeal adjourned four weeks and the 30-day window now a contested legal question, the Yunus administration loses a key narrative lever in the country's most politically charged tribunal cases.
Ask SkimNews
