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International Crimes Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam has alleged that enforced disappearances and killings were carried out under instructions from former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to suppress dissent during the Awami League government.
He also claimed that testimony before the tribunal had brought to light information linking former army officer Maj Gen (retd) Ziaul Ahsan to such activities.
The chief prosecutor made the remarks while speaking to journalists on Thursday after the recording of a prosecution witness’s testimony in the enforced disappearance case against Ziaul Ahsan before International Crimes Tribunal-1.
Former army officer Major Sabbir testified before the tribunal on Thursday, describing the alleged abduction and killing of four people, including Nazrul Islam, a witness to the BDR killings, in 2010.
According to Sabbir’s testimony, the four people were taken on a fishing trawler to the Baleshwar River in the Charduani area of Patharghata, Barguna, in May 2010. Their faces and bodies were covered, and they were allegedly blindfolded and shot before their bodies were dumped into the river.
He further testified that the victims’ abdomens were cut open and cement sacks were tied to their bodies before they were thrown into the river.
Sabbir alleged that members of the intelligence wing of RAB-8 carried out the killings in the presence of and under the instructions of Ziaul Ahsan, who was then head of the RAB intelligence wing.
He also testified that another person was killed and dumped into the river using a similar method in 2010.
According to his testimony, Alkas Majhi, one of the boatmen involved in Ziaul Ahsan’s alleged “Golf Operation” in 2011, was also forcibly disappeared and killed.
Former army chief Gen (retd) Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan, along with army and RAB officials who allegedly witnessed the killings, have previously testified against Ziaul Ahsan in the case.
The tribunal is expected to record the testimony of the investigation officer next. The case will then move towards its final stage with the presentation of arguments by both sides.
The case is reportedly the first of the enforced disappearance cases filed over the past 16 years to reach the final stage of trial.
