A court in Bangladesh on Monday sentenced the fugitive former police chief of Dhaka and two senior officers to death for crimes against humanity following the killing of six protesters during the July 2024 mass uprising that led to the overthrow of then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.The International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) has awarded death penalty to former Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Habibur Rahman, former Joint Commissioner Sudip Kumar Chakrabort and former Deputy Commissioner (Ramna Zone) Shah Alam Mohammad Akhtarul Islam. All three were tried in absentia and their whereabouts remain unknown, the Dhaka Tribune reported. The verdict comes ahead of the February 12 elections in Bangladesh, the first polls since Hasina was ousted in August 2024 after weeks of mass protests.Five other former police officers were sentenced to various prison terms. Mohammad Imrul, former assistant commissioner of Ramna zone, was jailed for six years; former Inspector of Shahbagh Police Station (Operations) Md. Arshad Hossain got four years; while officers Md Sujan Mia, Md Imaz Hossain Emon and Md Nasirul Islam were sentenced to three years each. Arshad, Sujan, Imaz and Nasirul are currently in custody.The case relates to the killing of six protesters in Dhaka’s Chankharpul district on August 5, 2024, the day Sheikh Hasina fled to India when protesters stormed her official residence. The verdict was delivered by a three-judge bench of ICT-1 comprising Justice Mozumder, Justice Md Shafiul Alam Mahmud and Justice Md Mohitul Hoque Anam Chowdhury.While reading out the verdict, Judge Md. Golam Mortuza Mozumder, chairman of the tribunal, that the evidence showed that police opened fire with deadly weapons on demonstrators.“The police forces… opened fire with deadly weapons… killing the above-mentioned six persons,” the judge told the court.The tribunal heard that Habibur Rahman sent messages to police units ordering them to use lethal force to quell the protests.Chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam said he was satisfied with the death sentences, but expressed disappointment over the prison terms imposed on the other five suspects, Dailystar reported. “The court said that their crimes have been proven and that they have committed crimes against humanity,” Islam told reporters, adding that he would call for harsher sentences for those given prison terms.However, families of the victims expressed their dissatisfaction with the verdict. Sanjida Khan, the mother of murdered protester Shahriar Khan Anas, collapsed in the courtroom.“We can never be satisfied with this verdict. We have not gotten Insaaf (justice),” she said while questioning the prosecutor about the punishments.Similarly, Shahid Ahmed, uncle of another victim, Md Yakub, said the lighter sentences posed a threat.“We wanted the death penalty for everyone. Instead, some of them were given three to four years in prison. After they serve their sentences, they will come out and maybe threaten us,” he said.This is the tribunal’s second verdict on crimes against humanity committed during the July uprising.In November last year, the same court sentenced Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death in absentia in a separate case. Former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who became a celebrity and state witness, was sentenced to five years in prison in that case.The Chankharpul inquiry report was filed on April 21, 2025, the first filed before the reconstituted tribunal with formal charges on July 14.After hearing from 26 witnesses over 23 working days, the tribunal concluded that the police firing took place on the direct orders of senior officials, justifying the maximum penalty.
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