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DHAKA: Bangladesh’s two International Crimes Tribunals have sentenced 23 people to death and 11 to life imprisonment in seven cases involving crimes against humanity committed during the July-August 2024 mass uprising, according to prosecution data.
A total of 68 defendants have been convicted in the seven cases. Besides those sentenced to death or life imprisonment, 33 people received various other prison terms, while one defendant was acquitted.
The latest figures, released by the prosecution, also show that 203 people have been arrested in connection with the cases, while 352 remain at large.
According to Prosecutor Gazi MH Tamim, 70 cases involving crimes against humanity committed during the uprising are currently recorded at the tribunals. Of these, 26 are under trial, while 44 have been categorised as miscellaneous cases.
Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam said the tribunals had been reconstituted with a commitment to delivering justice for those killed or injured during the mass uprising.
“We can now proudly state that our two tribunals have already delivered verdicts in seven major cases involving crimes against humanity. These trials have been conducted with great speed and the utmost integrity,” he said.
He expressed hope that proceedings in the remaining cases would be concluded expeditiously and the verdicts implemented in accordance with the law.
Regarding more than 300 fugitive accused, Aminul Islam said efforts were under way to bring them to justice. He stressed that the objective was to ensure that no innocent person was harassed and no guilty person escaped accountability.
In the first major verdict, delivered on November 17, 2025, International Crimes Tribunal-1 sentenced ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death for crimes against humanity committed during the July-August uprising.
The three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Majumdar, also sentenced former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun to five years in prison. Al-Mamun had become a state witness in the case after initially being an accused.
The tribunal ordered the confiscation of assets belonging to Hasina and Kamal and directed that appropriate compensation be provided to the families of those killed and people injured during the uprising.
In another major case, International Crimes Tribunal-1 sentenced three police officers to death over the killing of six people in Dhaka’s Chankharpul area during the uprising.
The verdict, delivered on January 26, 2026, sentenced former Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Habibur Rahman, former joint commissioner Sudip Kumar Chakraborty and former additional deputy commissioner of Ramna zone Shah Alam Md Akhtarul Islam to death. All three were fugitives at the time of the verdict.
The tribunal also handed prison terms to five other police personnel.
Former assistant commissioner Mohammad Imrul was sentenced to six years in prison, while former Shahbagh Police Station operations officer Md Arshed Hossain received four years. Constables Md Sujan Miah, Md Imaj Hossain Emon and Md Nasirul Islam were each sentenced to three years.
The case concerned the deaths of Shahriar Khan Anas, Sheikh Mahdi Hasan Junaid, Md Yakub, Md Rakib Howlader, Md Ismamul Haque and Manik Mia Shahrik. According to the case account, police opened fire on a student protest in Chankharpul on August 5, 2024, killing the six.
International Crimes Tribunal-2 sentenced six people to death in a case involving the killing of one person and the burning of six bodies in Ashulia during the 2024 uprising.
The verdict, delivered on February 5, 2026, named former Dhaka-19 MP Muhammad Saiful Islam, former Ashulia Police Station officer-in-charge AFM Sayed Rony, former assistant sub-inspector Bishwajit Saha, former sub-inspector Abdul Malek, former constable Mukul Chokdar and local Jubo League leader Rony Bhuiyan among those sentenced to death.
Seven others received life imprisonment. They included former Dhaka Range deputy inspector general Syed Nurul Islam, former superintendent of police Md Asaduzzaman Ripon, former additional superintendent of police Abdullahil Kafi, former additional superintendent of police for Savar Circle Md Shahidul Islam, and former Dhaka District Detective Branch inspector Md Arafat Hossain.
Former inspector Nirmal Kumar Das and former investigation officer Mohammad Masudur Rahman were also sentenced to life imprisonment.
Two former sub-inspectors, Arafat Uddin and Kamrul Hasan, received seven-year prison terms. The tribunal granted a pardon to Sheikh Afzalul Haque, who had served as a state witness.
In the case involving the killing of Abu Sayed, a student of Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur, International Crimes Tribunal-2 sentenced two people to death and three others to life imprisonment.
The verdict was delivered on April 9, 2026, by a three-member bench headed by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury.
Former assistant sub-inspector Md Amir Hossain and former constable Sujan Chandra Roy were sentenced to death. Former assistant commissioner of police Arifuzzaman, also known as Jibon, former inspector Rabiul Islam, known as Nayan, and former university police camp in-charge Sub-Inspector Bibhuti Bhushan Roy, known as Madhab, received life sentences.
The tribunal also sentenced several other defendants to prison terms ranging from three to 10 years.
Those receiving 10-year sentences included former Begum Rokeya University vice-chancellor Dr Hasibur Rashid, former Rangpur Metropolitan Police commissioner Moniruzzaman, and university associate professors Mashiur Rahman and Asaduzzaman Mondal. Pomel Barua, then president of the university’s Chhatra League unit, also received a 10-year term.
Other defendants, including police officials, university employees and leaders and activists of the university’s Chhatra League unit, were handed sentences of five and three years. Anwar Parvez, a contractual employee at the university’s proctor’s office, was sentenced to a term equivalent to the period he had already spent in custody.
In a separate case involving the shooting of a young man hanging from the ledge of a building under construction in Dhaka’s Rampura area, as well as the killing of two other people nearby during the July 2024 uprising, International Crimes Tribunal-1 sentenced three people to death.
The verdict, delivered on June 28 by a three-member bench headed by Justice Golam Mortuza Majumder, sentenced former DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman, former additional deputy commissioner of Khilgaon zone Md Rashedul Islam and former Rampura Police Station officer-in-charge Md Moshiur Rahman to death. They were among the accused who remained at large.
Former Rampura police sub-inspector Tarikul Islam Bhuiyan was sentenced to life imprisonment, while Chanchal Chandra Sarkar, a former assistant sub-inspector at the Rampura police outpost and the only arrested accused in the case, received a 20-year prison term.
International Crimes Tribunal-2 sentenced Hasanul Haq Inu, president of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, to 10 years in prison for crimes against humanity during the July uprising.
The tribunal, headed by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, delivered the verdict on June 30. It also ordered Inu to pay Tk 100,000 in compensation for each of the two charges against him.
The allegations included command responsibility arising from his communications with then prime minister Sheikh Hasina concerning the suppression of the uprising, as well as alleged involvement in the killing of six people in Kushtia.
On September 15, the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced seven people, including Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader, to death for crimes against humanity committed during the July-August 2024 uprising.
The other six were AFM Bahauddin Nasim, joint general secretary of the Awami League; former state minister for information and broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat; Jubo League chairman Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash; Jubo League general secretary Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil; Chhatra League president Saddam Hossain; and Chhatra League general secretary Sheikh Wali Asif Inan.
All seven remained at large following the verdict.
The tribunal ordered the confiscation of half the assets belonging to Quader, Nasim, Arafat, Parash and Nikhil. It directed that the confiscated assets be distributed as compensation to the families of those killed during the uprising and people who sustained injuries.
The seven verdicts represent a significant part of the ongoing proceedings concerning alleged crimes against humanity during the July-August 2024 uprising.
According to the prosecution, trials are continuing before the two tribunals in cases involving killings, enforced disappearances and other alleged crimes against humanity committed both during the uprising and under the ousted Awami League government.
With dozens of cases still pending and hundreds of accused reported to remain at large, the prosecution says its priority is to bring the remaining cases to conclusion while ensuring that accountability is pursued through judicial proceedings.