On Wednesday, the prosecution at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) filed a formal charge against the former director general (DG) of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC), Major General Ziaul Ahsan, for his alleged role in enforced disappearances and more than 100 killings.
The charge was submitted by prosecutor Shyikh Mahdi at the ICT Registrar's office. The ICT-1 is expected to hold a hearing on the subject later in the day.
Ziaul Ahsan is currently in custody and is scheduled to stand trial in several cases involving allegations of abduction, torture, enforced disappearance, murder, and other crimes against humanity.
Previously, the prosecution had compared him to Serbian war criminals Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.
According to Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam, Ziaul Ahsan, like the "Butchers of the Balkans", was the "Butcher of Bangla".
"He was the architect of a culture of enforced disappearance, torturing people in various torture facilities, killing them, and disposing of their bodies." Whoever attempted to speak out against the Awami League government was abducted by Ziaul Ahsan—first as a senior official of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and later as DG of the NTMC—and tortured to near-death experiences. "Many of his victims have yet to return home," the chief prosecutor stated.
He went on to say that during his tenure as NTMC DG, Ziaul Ahsan imported several globally banned technologies and equipment to keep people with opposing ideologies and opinions under surveillance.
He also claimed that during the July-August student-led mass uprising, the information blackout imposed by the previous government was enforced on Ziaul Ahsan's orders, preventing people at home and abroad from learning about the atrocities allegedly committed by the government and its agencies.
