The Prosecution submitted an application under Section 9(4) of the ICTBD Act for the
submission of additional documentary and digital evidence.
The details of the application include:
● Video Evidence: Multimedia documents/footage published by YouTube and Al
Jazeera.
● News Reports: Physical copies of newspapers and digital reports from BBC Online.
● Supplemental Witnesses: The application also sought the inclusion of additional
witnesses to testify regarding these materials.

The Defense stated that they had no objection to the Prosecution’s application.

Order: The Tribunal allowed the application in full and passed a formal order to incorporate the
additional documents and witnesses into the case record.

Testimony of Md. Abul Hasnat

 

My name is Md. Abul Hasnat. My current age is approximately 28 years. My address: XXX District: Cumilla. I was a student of the Department of English at Dhaka University. I was a coordinator of the 2024 Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. We participated in the movement that took place in 2018 for quota reform. The main objective of that movement was to reform the quotas, but the then-administrative head, driven by resentment, abolished the entire quota system instead of reforming it, so that this quota system could be reintroduced later. We realized even then that this quota system would be reinstated. In view of that, someone filed a writ in 2019. Without any context, in 2024, through the verdict of that writ case, the 2018 circular was cancelled and the quota system was reinstated. As a result, the merit-based recruitment process was hindered, and students across the country became agitated.

On June 5, 2024, we protested demanding the withdrawal of the High Court Division’s verdict.
After the Eid-ul-Adha vacation, we resumed the movement from July 1, 2024, under the banner
of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. When the government filed an appeal against the
High Court Division’s verdict in the Hon’ble Appellate Division, it was ordered to maintain a
status quo for 30 days. As a result of this status quo, the student community became more agitated. We wanted the High Court Division’s verdict stayed and the 2018 circular reinstated.

But since the High Court Division’s verdict was not stayed and the hearing was deferred for four weeks, the student community became incensed. We realized that the government was
politicizing the judiciary to implement its own interests.

After announcing it on July 6, 2024, we observed the “Bangla Blockade” program on July 7,
2024. In the continuity of the movement, spontaneous public participation continued to increase.

On July 11, 2024, an official of the rank of Assistant Director of the DGFI contacted us on
behalf of the government and wanted to know the purpose of our movement. He wanted to know
our family and political identities and continued to apply pressure to stop the movement.

On July 14, 2024, as part of our program, we submitted a memorandum to the President. That
night, the then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, returning from her visit to China, addressed the
protesters at a press conference as”grandchildren of Razakars” and “children of Razakars” In protest, students from all the halls of Dhaka University came out with a protest procession that very night. That night, Chhatra League activists obstructed the protesting students from joining the procession and harassed the female students participating in the movement.

The next day, July 15, 2024, at 12:00 PM, we scheduled a protest procession at the Raju
Sculpture. At the same time, Dhaka University Chhatra League, and Dhaka Metropolitan North
and South Chhatra League announced programs at the same time and place. Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader said that Chhatra League is enough to suppress this movement. This statement was clearly provocative. On July 15, 2024, when we were moving with a procession from Raju Sculpture towards the halls via the VC Chhattar, Chhatra League—under the leadership of Saddam, Enan, Saikat, and Shayan—attacked us and harassed female students, which aggrieved the entire country. During that attack, in front of the Registrar Building, Chhatra League leader of Bijoy’s 71 Hall, Shakirul Islam Shakib, beat me and sprained my left ankle. I had to immediately get admitted and receive treatment at Lalbagh Ibn Sina Hospital. On that day, students were beaten and injured. When the students went to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and other hospitals for treatment, Chhatra League entered the hospitals and attacked the injured students again and prevented them from receiving treatment.

In view of this incident, students across the country called for a protest procession on July 16,
2024. On July 16, 2024, while students were holding protest processions across the country, the police shot and killed Abu Sayeed, a student of the English Department and a coordinator, after
entering Rangpur Rokeya University. On that day, a total of 6 people, including Wasim of Chhatra Dal in Sholoshahar, Chittagong, were shot and killed by the police and Chhatra League
across the country.

On July 17, 2024, we announced a program to hold Gayebana Janaza across the country in
protest of the 6 killings. On that very day, the UGC announced the closure of all universities in
the country including Dhaka University and ordered all the halls of Dhaka University to be
vacated by 5:00 PM. When we tried to move from Amar Ekushey Hall with a procession towards
TSC via Doel Chhattar, the police and BGB fired tear gas and sound grenades at us in front of the Raju Sculpture. At the same time, the DGFI continued to apply pressure on us to withdraw the Gayebana Janaza program.

When we were moving with the coffin procession after the Gayebana Janaza, BGB and police members again fired tear shells, sound grenades, and rubber bullets at us. In this, many students of the university, including myself were injured. Leaders and activists of Dhaka University Chhatra League and Dhaka Metropolitan North and South Chhatra League participated in the attack. On that day, the elected Social Service Secretary of DUCSU, Akhtar Hossain, was arrested. That day, I went to my uncle’s house in the Science Laboratory area. Since the halls were closed, Sarjis, one of the other main coordinators of the movement, also came to my uncle’s house with me. That night, DGFI members came to my uncle’s house and picked up Sarjis and me.

When we refused to go, they threatened to harm us and our families. That night, we were taken
to the State Guest House Padma. Within 30 minutes of our arrival, three then-ministers—Anisul
Huq, Arafat, and Nowfel—entered. DGFI members pressured us to hold a meeting with them.
For over an hour, they used various temptations, fears, and pressures just to get us to meet. We refused to have any kind of meeting without speaking to the other coordinators, Nahid and Asif.

When DGFI failed despite their insistence to get us to sit for the meeting, those three ministers left State Guest House Padma right in front of us. DGFI became angry with us for not meeting that day. Instead of sending us home, they detained us that night in a secret location between Matshya Bhaban and the International Mother Language Institute, known as a “Safe House” There, people from various agencies, including DGFI, interrogated us. Right behind where we were being interrogated, a television was set up. The person interrogating us was watching the TV while questioning us, but we could not see the TV behind us. From there, he was calling various TV channels—specifically DBC, Somoy TV, and Ekattor TV—giving instructions to change the news and correct the news scrolls. Accordingly, the TV channels were broadcasting the news and trying to show that the situation was normal.

The house where we were interrogated looked like an abandoned building from the outside, but its interior was equipped with modern gear. We were interrogated until about 2:30 AM on the
night of July 17, 2024 (into July 18). We were woken up again at Fajr and the interrogation resumed. During questioning, a DGFI army officer told me that on October 28, 2023, he had thwarted the movement of millions of BNP people in 10 minutes, and it would not take him
long to thwart our movement in the same way.

We were interrogated at different times in various setups. They were pressuring us to withdraw
the movement, sit for talks with the government, and announce it to the nation through a press conference. Since the internet was shut down, we could not contact our other coordinators. DGFI
members used our mobile phones to try to locate our coordinators. At one point, they managed to contact coordinator Hasib using my phone. When I asked for his location, he said he was at the protest in the Chankharpul area. Within a short time, DGFI picked him up from Chankharpul and
detained him with us. There, we were subjected to various physical and mental tortures. Since
coordinator Hasib was a madrasa student and most likely his sister was also a madrasa student,
he was brutally tortured under the “Shibir” tag.

I felt embarrassed and guilty that Hasib’s location was determined using my phone. While detained, we did not know what was happening across the country, and the people did not know what was happening to us. To make us villains in the eyes of the people, false news was
broadcast on various media outlets claiming we had sat for discussions with the government.
Whenever we were brought before the media, we said our pre-declared shutdown program and
movement would continue. But the mass media TV channels, especially three channels—Somoy TV, Ekattor TV, and DBC—were spreading confusion by broadcasting fragmented parts of our statements. Someone named Niloy, introducing himself as the PS to the then-DG of DGFI, General Hamid, along with another army officer named Hasnat, behaved rudely toward us and laid hands on us. The previously mentioned army officer named Hasnat was controlling the media on behalf of the DGFI.

We were interrogated throughout the day on July 18, 2024. That evening, the DG of DGFI and
several officials arrived at the safe house and pressured us one last time to hold a meeting and
withdraw the movement. I saw a competition among agencies like SB, NSI, DGFI, and DB to take credit for suppressing the movement. Since we could not contact anyone outside, Sarjis, Hasib, and I decided that if we were allowed to hold a press conference to state our demands, we would go to Padma (Guest House). On that condition, we agreed to go to Padma and released our demands in writing through a press conference. We repeatedly said in the press conference that we had not come for any meeting with the government, that we could not hold any dialogue over the blood of martyrs, and that our pre-declared shutdown program would continue. Unfortunately, the media broadcasted fragmented parts of our speech. The previously mentioned army officer Hasnat kept pressuring us in front of the media to withdraw the shutdown program. When we refused, he said nothing then but brought us back to the safe house. Returning there, I saw that by completely distorting our statements, news was being delivered that we had withdrawn the movement, which was completely opposite to the actual facts. Our words were cut during the press conference, and only the demands were broadcast. That night, we were taken to the Cantonment. We were released on the afternoon of July 19, 2024.

After getting out, we learned that one of our main coordinators, Mr. Nahid Islam, had been
forcibly disappeared and could not be found. Therefore, I, Sarjis, and Nahid’s parents began
searching for Nahid. When we went to the DB office and CID office to file a complaint, no complaint was accepted from us. After getting out, we also learned that another coordinator, Abdul Kader, had announced the Nine-Point demand, and these nine points had reached various parts of the country. After coming out, we became aware of the number of people injured and killed in the movement, as well as the extent of the torture. Meanwhile, Nahid was found and admitted to Gonoshasthaya Hospital. We went to see Nahid and discussed the next programs of the movement. Going there, we saw that law enforcement and intelligence forces were deployed in the hospital area.

On the night of July 19, 2024, the then-government declared a curfew from the following day to suppress the movement. During the curfew, a decision was made to shoot protesters on sight. Our shutdown program continued, and the killing and torture by the police and Awami League continued across the country. Afterward, other coordinators of the movement, Asif and Baker,
were disappeared. Asif’s father came to Dhaka two days later and began searching for his child.
We held a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity with him. Even at that press conference, DGFI pressured Nahid to withdraw the movement. Nahid ignored the pressure and announced the continuation of the movement.

The next day, Asif and Baker were found, and they too were admitted to Gonoshasthaya
Hospital. When I went to see them at Gonoshasthaya Hospital, I was obstructed and threatened
with arrest. On July 26, 2024, Asif, Baker, and Nahid were picked up from Gonoshasthaya Hospital and taken to the DB office. The following day, July 27, 2024, at 12:00 PM, Sarjis and I were picked up from the Science Laboratory area and taken to the DB office. On July 28, 2024, another coordinator, Nusrat Tabassum, was picked up and taken to the DB office. There, each of us was kept under an ADC. I was under ADC Junayed. He subjected me to inhuman torture. Once, I was made to stand in front of the bathroom all night. Their main objective was to make us withdraw the movement and participate in discussions with the government. I repeatedly emphasized that they should either arrest me or release me; there was no legal basis for keeping us in custody. DB Harun was coordinating all these activities. He would call all of us to his room several times and apply various threats and pressures. That was where we would all see each other. We once thought about a hunger strike. Then DB Harun called us to his room at noon, gave us food to eat, filmed the video of us eating, and circulated it on social media. After that, we started a hunger strike. We were threatened that our relatives would be brought in. Even though our relatives came outside the DB office, they were not allowed to meet us. At one point, our family members were allowed to enter the DB office. Through them, statements were broadcast in the media saying we were healthy. We learned from the inside that teachers were protesting for our release. Various classes and professions joined that movement.

One day, DB Harun called the six of us coordinators to his room, handed a written description to
coordinator Nahid Islam, and told him to read it. When Nahid Islam read it, it was filmed and
spread nationwide, claiming that Nahid Islam had withdrawn the movement. We were released on August 1, 2024, around 2:00 PM. At the time of release, we had been on a hunger strike for
about 30 hours. Immediately after coming out, we announced the continuation of the movement.

On August 3, 2024, Mr. Nahid Islam announced the “One-Point” demand from the Shaheed Minar for the abolition of the fascist system and the formation of a new state. All students, the masses, and people of all classes of the country declared solidarity with this announcement. On August 4, 2024, students and the masses participated in the movement in various places of the capital, including Science Laboratory, Shahbagh, Badda, Shaheed Minar, Mirpur, ECB Chattar, Uttara, Mohammadpur, and Rampura. Terrorists from the Awami League, Chhatra League, and Jubo League, along with the police and BGB, used lethal weapons and fired shots at the participants, resulting in countless protesters being injured and killed. Outside the capital, especially in Cumilla, Chattogram, Rajshahi, and Rangpur, students and the masses were attacked by the police and Awami League terrorists. We announced a “Protest and Resistance” program for August 5, 2024, and a “March to Dhaka” program for August 6, 2024. But upon hearing news of extensive preparations by the government and Awami League to resist the movement, we brought the pre-announced program forward by one day at 11:00/12:00 PM on the night of August 4, 2024, and announced the “March to Dhaka” program for August 5, 2024. From the morning of August 5, 2024, ordinary students and the masses began coming toward Dhaka from all over the country to observe the “March to Dhaka” program. I participated in the movement in the Bijoy Sarani area. At one point around noon, we received news that Hasina was preparing to flee and the Army Chief would address the nation shortly. Then we became certain that the end of Hasina’s misrule had occurred.

Simultaneously, we announced that we would not accept any military rule. Then we all gathered and informed the nation through a press conference that a new government would be formed within the next day or two, and called upon the people to maintain peace, order, and security until then. Afterward, on August 8, 2024, the interim government was formed.

After the fall of the government, through various social media, local and foreign media including BBC and Al Jazeera, and the report of the UN Fact-Finding Commission, we learned that during the July mass uprising, about 1,400 students and people were martyred and more than 25,000 students and people were injured. During this period, many brutal incidents occurred, such as burning six people in Ashulia, throwing Yamin off an APC in Savar, shooting a rickshaw puller
dead in front of a hospital, and obstructing the injured from receiving treatment. For the murder of Abu Sayeed, I hold responsible the then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the then-Home Minister, the then-IGP, the administration of Begum Rokeya University, the police administration, and those who directly fired the shots. I demand the maximum punishment for the accused and ensure justice.

I want justice for everyone responsible for the deaths and injuries in the July 2024 movement,
including Abu Sayeed murder.

The Investigating Officer has questioned me. This is my statement.

Cross-Examination on behalf of present Accused No. 10, Md. Shariful Islam, by Lawyer Md. Aminul Gani Tito

The Investigating Officer (IO) questioned me several times. I do not remember the specific dates; one day it was at 10:00 AM, another day it was after noon, on the third day I could not
come due to being busy, and on the fourth day, he questioned me throughout the day. The Investigating Officer present in the Tribunal, Md. Ruhul Amin, questioned me.

I had an X-ray done because of the sprained ankle. I did not provide the medical documents
regarding the treatment at Ibn Sina Hospital to the Investigating Officer.

I was not in Rangpur at the time of Abu Sayeed’s murder.

It is not true that the statement—that they entered Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, and shot him to death—is incorrect.

It was not fixed what number coordinator Abu Sayeed was in Rangpur. There was no specific
number for coordinators in various cities across 48 districts, including Rangpur. I do not know
when the committee for the Rangpur coordinators was formed.

“Why is there so much resentment against the Liberation War and against the Freedom Fighters?
If the grandchildren of Freedom Fighters don’t get it, will the grandchildren of Razakars get it?
The grandchildren of Freedom Fighters are not meritorious, but all the children and grand
children of Razakars are meritorious, right?”—The then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said this
in response to questions from journalists; this is true.

It is not true that the statement I gave regarding the then-Prime Minister addressing the protesters as “Razakars” in a press conference after returning from China—is politically
motivated.

I do not remember the names of the other four martyrs on 16-07-24, except for Abu Sayeed and
Wasim.

It is not true that the statement I gave—regarding the involvement of the Begum Rokeya
University administration in the Abu Sayeed murder—is incorrect.

Cross-Examination on behalf of present Accused No. 8, Md. Amirul Islam, and Accused No. 9, Sujan Chandra Roy, by Lawyer Azizur Rahman Dulu:
The cross-examination by the learned lawyer on behalf of Accused No. 10 is adopted.

I was admitted to Dhaka University in 2017. My Masters ended in October 2022, and my results
were published in 2023.

I did not go to Rangpur from 01-07-2024 to 05-08-2024.

I stayed at Ibn Sina Hospital for about 1.5 to 2.0 hours.

I first learned about the Abu Sayeed murder in the coordinators’ group, and I received the news
around noon in the group named SAD (Students Against Discrimination).

It is true that in my deposition, I have described my participation in the July 24 movement.

Cross-Examination) on behalf of absconding Accused Nos. 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, and 07,
by Learned State Defense Ishrat Jahan Anni:
The cross-examination by the learned lawyers on behalf of present Accused Nos. 8, 9, and 10 is adopted.

I did not provide the Investigating Officer with the link to the group from which I learned the
news of the Abu Sayeed murder.

I do not remember through whom in the group I learned about the murder.

Cross-Examination For all other present and absconding accused:
The cross-examination by the learned lawyers on behalf of present Accused Nos. 8, 9, and 10 is adopted.

Next date: Tomorrow 10 December 2025.