Bangladesh police arrest former prosecutor for attempted murder

DHAKA: Bangladeshi police said Tuesday they arrested a lawyer who served as a senior prosecutor at a court that sentenced Islamist leaders to death under the rule of ousted hardline prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

The case is the latest in a string of detentions of people who had held senior positions during Hasina’s rule, who is herself wanted on charges of crimes against humanity for the killing of hundreds of protesters during the unrest that toppled her government last August.

Tureen Afroz was arrested on Monday night on charges of attempted murder, in a case linked to the student-led uprising, said Muhidul Islam, police deputy commissioner in the capital Dhaka.

The case against Afroz was filed by Mohammed Jabbar, 21, who was shot last August as security forces sought to quash protests.

“She has several co-accused in this particular case, but none are as prominent as she is,” Muhidul told AFP.

Afroz was a prosecutor at Bangladesh’s domestic International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), which was set up by Hasina in 2010 to probe atrocities during the country’s 1971 war of independence against Pakistan.

The ICT sentenced numerous prominent political opponents to death over the following years and became widely seen as a means for Hasina to eliminate her rivals.

Afroz played a prominent role in the cases of at least six Islamist leaders, including several from the Jamaat-e-Islami party, who were sentenced to hang. All except Ghulam Azam were executed.

This is the first time a former ICT prosecutor has been arrested on such charges.

Hasina has defied extradition requests from Bangladesh to face charges — at the same ICT court she set up — after she fled to old ally India as crowds stormed her palace.

The court’s current chief prosecutor, Tajul Islam, previously served as a defence counsel representing several of those accused of 1971 war crimes.

-AFP