Investigation summaries of ten cases against Hasina in prosecutors' hands, press conference tomorrow: Chief Prosecutor

Investigation summaries of ten cases related to the July-August 2024 mass killings have reached the prosecution team. The documents and evidence received are now being examined in detail. This was stated by Md Aminul Islam, Chief Prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal.

He gave this information on Monday while speaking to journalists at his office in response to a question. He said that as soon as this review is completed, formal charge sheets in the relevant cases will be submitted to the trial bench of the tribunal.

He also said that a formal press conference will be held on Tuesday on behalf of the prosecution to present all information about Sheikh Hasina before the people of the country.

The Chief Prosecutor described the application by ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who is living in India, for a new passport and national identity card (NID) as mere political 'stunt'. He said whatever Sheikh Hasina is doing now is all stunt. She will never return. All her statements are baseless.

The Chief Prosecutor noted that broadcasting such messages of return while sitting in New Delhi, India, is nothing but a deliberate political stunt.

He said that if she had real courage, she should have returned to the country instead of fleeing and faced the legal trial process for the brutal killings committed during the July uprising of 2024.

Announcing the formal press conference, he said Hasina is not taking any steps in the legal manner required for her return. A formal press conference on the matter will be held tomorrow at noon.

Meanwhile, the news agency Reuters reported that Sheikh Hasina has applied for a new passport and identity card so that she can return from self-imposed exile in India. Hasina, who has been living in India for two years, has promised that she would return to Bangladesh in December.

Hasina told Reuters that she intended to surrender before a court in Bangladesh, and her aides said on Monday the date would be announced once various formalities were completed.

Bangladesh's war crimes court sentenced Hasina to death in absentia last November for ordering a deadly crackdown on student protests that swept the country in 2024. As many as 1,400 people may have been killed in those protests, according to United Nations estimates.

Hasina is the daughter of Bangladesh's founder and first president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. She served as prime minister from 1996 to 2001, and again from 2009 to 2024.

The Chief Prosecutor said the prosecution will formally present all information about Sheikh Hasina at Tuesday's press conference. Preparations for filing the charge sheets in the ten cases are also expected to become clear there.