Three former senior police officers, including a former head of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), have been sentenced to death by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal for crimes against humanity committed during a violent crackdown on protesters in the capital’s Chankharpul area in August 2024.
The verdict was delivered on Monday by the three-member International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1), chaired by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, in a courtroom filled with lawyers, victims’ relatives and observers.
Former DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman, former joint commissioner Sudip Kumar Chakraborty and former additional deputy commissioner Shah Alam Mohammad Akhtarul Islam were found guilty of responsibility for the killing of six civilians on 5 August 2024. The tribunal also ordered the confiscation of their properties.
All three convicts are currently on the run.
In its judgement, the tribunal said the men held senior command positions and exercised direct authority over police personnel deployed at the scene. The court ruled that they were criminally liable under the doctrine of superior command responsibility.
“These three had superior status over their subordinates and are therefore responsible for the crimes committed,” the judgment said, adding that a single sentence of death had been imposed on each of them.
The tribunal found that Shah Alam Mohammad Akhtarul Islam actively incited violence by ordering lower-ranking officers to open fire on demonstrators. Judges noted that he had allegedly taken a Chinese-made rifle from a constable who refused to shoot and handed it to another officer, instructing him to fire on the crowd.
The court observed that junior policemen were effectively compelled to follow the instructions of their superiors and had little opportunity to disobey orders during the operation.
Several other former police officers were also convicted in the case and received prison sentences of varying lengths. Former assistant commissioner Mohammad Imrul of the DMP’s Ramna Zone was sentenced to six years in jail, while former inspector Md Arshad Hossain was given a four-year term. Former constables Md Sujon, Imaj Hossain Emon and Nasirul Islam were each sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.
All of those convicted were tried in absentia and remain unarrested.
The case relates to the killing of six people during protests in Chankharpul amid the July–August 2024 mass uprising. The victims were Shahriar Khan Anas, Sheikh Mahdi Hasan Zunayed, Md Yakub, Md Rakib Hawlader, Md Ismamul Haque and Manik Miah.
The tribunal’s investigation agency submitted a 90-page report on 20 April 2025. Formal charges against eight accused were filed on 25 May, making it the first case formally brought before the tribunal in connection with the mass uprising. The accused were indicted on 14 July.
Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict and said the prosecution would challenge it before a higher court.
“Although it is customary to say ‘much obliged’ after a judgement, we intend to file an appeal,” he told the tribunal following the ruling.
The verdict had originally been scheduled to be delivered on 20 January but was postponed after the tribunal said additional time was needed to finalise the decision.
This marks the second judgement delivered by the reconstituted International Crimes Tribunal.
