DHAKA: A verdict in ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s closely watched crimes against humanity trial is expected later this month, Bangladeshi prosecutors said Tuesday.
Confusion over the timing of the verdict arose after the trial ended last month, when a hearing was set for November 13.
But Thursday’s hearing was only “to announce the date of the verdict,” said Gazi Monowar Hossain Tamim, prosecutor at Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal.
“Based on our previous experience, the court might take another week or so to deliver the verdict,” Tamim said.
“We want to make it clear that the court is set to fix the date of the verdict on November 13.”
Bangladesh has been in political turmoil since a deadly uprising toppled Hasina’s autocratic government in August 2024. Violence has marked the campaign trail for elections expected in February 2026.
Hasina, 78, has defied court orders to return from India to attend her trial on charges of ordering a deadly crackdown in a failed attempt to suppress the student-led uprising.
Her trial in absentia, which began on June 1, heard months of testimony alleging she ordered mass killings.
According to the United Nations, up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024.
Prosecutors have filed five charges, including failure to prevent murder, amounting to crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law. They have sought the death penalty if she is found guilty.
Hasina has denied all the charges and called her trial a “jurisprudential joke.”
Her co-accused include former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal – also a fugitive – and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who is in custody and has pleaded guilty.
Hasina’s outlawed Awami League called for a nationwide “lockdown” on Thursday, and security agencies in Bangladesh have been placed on alert.
Bangladesh verdict against Hasina likely late November
https://arab.news/69ucv
Bangladesh verdict against Hasina likely late November
- Confusion over the timing of the verdict arose after the trial ended last month, when a hearing was set for November 13
- Bangladesh has been in political turmoil since a deadly uprising toppled Hasina’s autocratic government in August 2024
Russia says two crew members from US-seized tanker released
- “Two Russian sailors have been released and are on their way home to Russia,” Zakharova said
- Russia announced earlier this month that the US had decided to release the Russian duo
MOSCOW: Moscow said Wednesday two Russian crew members of a tanker seized this month by the United States in the Atlantic had been released and were on their way home.
US authorities took over the Russian-flagged vessel earlier this month, alleging it was part of a shadow fleet carrying oil from countries such as Venezuela, Russia and Iran in violation of US sanctions.
The United States said publicly that the Marinera’s crew could be prosecuted. Russia said that would be “categorically unacceptable” and accused Washington of stoking tensions and threatening international shipping.
“Two Russian sailors have been released and are on their way home to Russia,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency on Wednesday.
Russia announced earlier this month that the United States had decided to release the two Russian crew members, but last week its Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the decision had not yet been implemented.
The captain and the first officer of the tanker have left UK waters, Solicitor General for Scotland, Ruth Charteris told a court hearing Tuesday, Press Association news agency reported.
“The captain and the first officer are now aboard the US Coast Guard vessel Munro and have departed the United Kingdom’s territorial sea,” Charteris said.
Twenty-six of the 28 crew have left the ship, officials told AFP. They were processed at a military site in Inverness, Scotland, the court was told, according to Press Association.
Five wanted to travel to the United States and 21 elsewhere. None have claimed asylum, the court heard.
“At the request of the US authorities, crew members have been allowed to disembark for onwards travel,” a UK government spokesperson told AFP Wednesday.
“They will be processed in line with all appropriate immigration and legal requirements.”
Britain was not involved in the movement of the other two crew members, the government said.
The United States seized the tanker, previously known as Bella 1, which was being escorted by the Russian navy, after chasing it from near the Venezuelan coast.
It was re-flagged and re-named to bring it under Russian jurisdiction in a bid to discourage the United States from trying to take it as part of its campaign against Venezuela.
