The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Dhaka has sentenced two former police officers to death for crimes against humanity regarding the killing of Abu Sayed, a student at Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur. The landmark ruling, delivered on Thursday, 9 April 2026, serves as a definitive legal milestone following the 2024 July uprising which fundamentally altered the political landscape of the nation.
Justice Nazrul Islam Mazumder, leading the three-member tribunal, found former assistant sub-inspector Amir Hossain and former constable Sujan Chandra Roy guilty of the direct shooting of the English department student. Beyond the capital punishment, several high-ranking former officials from the Rangpur Metropolitan Police (RMP) were handed life sentences. These include former assistant deputy commissioner Arifuzzaman, former inspector Rabiul Islam, and ex-sub-inspector Bibhuti Bhushan Roy.
The court also extended criminal accountability to the university’s academic and administrative leadership. Former vice chancellor Hasibur Rashid, along with teachers Mashiur Rahman and Asaduzzaman Mondal, received 10-year prison terms. Similar sentences were given to former RMP commissioner Md Moniruzzaman and Pomel Barua, the president of the university’s banned Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) unit.
A broader group of defendants received shorter custodial sentences for their roles in the events. Former deputy commissioner Abu Maruf Hossain and former additional DC Shah Nur Alam Patwari were among eight individuals sentenced to five years. Additionally, ten others, including Md Moniruzzaman Palash and Mahafuzur Rahman Shamim, were jailed for three years. Of the 30 individuals originally named in the charge sheet, Anwar Parvez was the sole individual acquitted of all charges.
The death of Abu Sayed on 16 July 2024 became a global symbol of resistance after footage emerged showing the unarmed student standing with his arms outstretched before being fatally shot by police. This specific incident intensified the student-led protests into a mass uprising, ultimately resulting in the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August 2024. The ICT investigation agency formally submitted the charges in June 2025, leading to this final verdict nearly a year later.
The tribunal delivered the judgement with five convicts present in the dock, including Amir Hossain and Sujan Chandra. The remaining convicts were tried in absentia, and law enforcement agencies have been directed to secure their arrest. While the three and five-year sentences begin immediately, the death penalties will remain subject to the mandatory high court review and potential appeals.
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