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Trial of ex-Bangladesh PM begins as shooting victim testifies
The trial of former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina began on Sunday with a powerful testimony from one of the victims of last year’s deadly crackdown on anti-government protests. Khokon Chandra Barman, a 23-year-old man who was shot in the face during the demonstrations, took the stand as the first witness for the prosecution.
Sheikh Hasina, who fled the capital Dhaka by helicopter on August 5, 2024, after weeks of violent unrest, is being tried in absentia along with two former high-ranking officials: the ex-interior minister, who is also in hiding, and the former police chief, who has pleaded guilty and is in custody.
The United Nations estimates that at least 1,400 people were killed during the clashes between security forces and protesters. Hasina is accused of ordering the violent repression, with the charges against her classified as crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law.
“I seek justice for my suffering and for my fellow protesters who lost their lives,” Barman told the court. He now wears a mask to cover his disfigured face from the bullet wound he sustained on the day Hasina fled the country.
Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam described Hasina as "the central figure around whom all crimes of the uprising revolved." Attorney General Mohammed Asaduzzaman also demanded the maximum penalty for those responsible.
Hasina, now in exile in India, has refused to acknowledge the court’s legitimacy. Her court-appointed lawyer, Amir Hossain, confirmed having no contact with her. Despite several arrest warrants issued by Bangladeshi authorities, India has not acted on them.
The trial is expected to feature 11 key witnesses and could mark a turning point in Bangladesh’s reckoning with its recent political turmoil.