A court in Bangladesh has ordered an investigation into the former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s alleged role in the death of a grocery shop owner in the capital, Dhaka, during last month’s student-led protests.
The case filed by Bangladeshi citizen Amir Hamza against Hasina and six others was accepted by Dhaka’s chief metropolitan magistrates court after a hearing, Hamza’s lawyer, Anwarul Islam, said. The magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury ordered police to investigate the case, Islam added.
It was the first case filed against Hasina after a violent uprising that killed about 300 people, many of them college and university students. She fled to India on 5 August and has been sheltering in Delhi.
The other accused in the case include the general secretary of Hasina’s Awami League party, Obaidul Quader, the former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and senior police officials.
Hamza alleged the grocer, Abu Saeed, was killed on 19 July at about 4pm (10.00 GMT) when he was hit by a bullet while crossing the street in the Mohammadpur area of Dhaka, as police fired on students and other people demonstrating against quotas in government jobs.
The complainant blamed Hasina, who had called for strong action to quell the violence, for the police firing. Hamza said he was not related to Saeed but voluntarily approached the court because Saeed’s family did not have the finances to file the case.
“I am the first ordinary citizen who showed the courage to take this legal step against Sheikh Hasina for her crimes. I will see the case to an end,” Hamza told Reuters.
Hasina, who was prime minister for 15 years, could not be immediately reached for comment. Quader’s phone was switched off, while Kamal did not answer his phone when Reuters tried to reach him.
Nahid Islam, a Bangladeshi student leader who was instrumental in overthrowing Hasina and is now part of the interim government, recently said that the former prime minister must face trial for the killings during her term, including during the recent protests.
The student-led movement started with demonstrations against quotas in government jobs before spiralling into violent protests to oust Hasina. She plans to return home to Bangladesh when the caretaker government, headed by the Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, decides on holding elections, her son has said.