Bangladesh court orders investigation into murder of former leader Sheikh Hasina

CNN
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A Bangladeshi court has ordered an investigation into former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s alleged role in the police killing of a man during deadly protests that led to her ouster from power, state media reported on Tuesday.

Hasina, who fled the country earlier this month after weeks of unrest, is accused along with other senior officials of causing the death of a grocery store owner on July 19, according to the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha news agency.

The murder complaint, filed Tuesday in a Dhaka Metropolitan Court, is the first legal case filed against Hasina since her brutal crackdown on mass protests against government job quotas that erupted in Bangladesh last month.

About 300 people have been killed in clashes between students, government supporters and armed police, according to an analysis by local media and news agencies. At least 32 of those killed were children, according to the U.N. children’s agency.

Hasina’s former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan, her party’s secretary general and four former senior police officers have also been named in the murder case.

CNN has reached out to the attorney who brought the case for comment.

In her first public speech since leaving Bangladesh, Hasina on Tuesday called for an investigation into the “heinous killings and acts of sabotage” committed during the protests.

Her statement, published on X through her son, did not mention the murder case against her but said that as a result of “sabotage, arson and violence” “many innocent citizens of our country have lost their lives”.

“I demand a thorough investigation to identify and bring to justice those responsible for these heinous killings and acts of sabotage,” Hasina said.

What began as protests against a government quota system that reserves 30% of civil service positions for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s 1971 war for independence has blossomed into a nationwide movement to oust Hasina.

The Hasina government’s vehement response only added fuel to the fire even as the limits were lowered.

As protests intensified, Hasina blamed the opposition for the violence and imposed internet blockades and a countrywide curfew.

Hasina eventually fled to neighboring India, ending her 15-year rule and sparking jubilation on the streets of Dhaka as crowds stormed her official residence, destroying walls and looting its contents.

The country’s parliament has been dissolved and Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus has become the head of an interim government, with elections due within 90 days.