Bangladesh to seize convicts’ assets to compensate July uprising victims
Court orders half of five convicts’ assets confiscated, with sale proceeds going to people killed or wounded during 2024 uprising
DHAKA, Bangladesh (MNTV) — Bangladesh’s war crimes tribunal has ordered authorities to seize half of assets belonging to five senior figures convicted over deadly repression of 2024 mass uprising, with proceeds to be used to compensate people killed or wounded and their families.
International Crimes Tribunal-2 issued confiscation order Tuesday while delivering its verdict in crimes against humanity case against seven senior figures from former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League and its affiliated organizations.
According to the tribunal’s verdict, 50% of movable and immovable assets belonging to Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, party Joint General Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim, former information minister Mohammad Ali Arafat, and Jubo League leaders Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash and Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil will be confiscated.
Court ordered confiscated property to be sold and proceeds distributed to people killed or injured during July-August 2024 uprising, or their families, through July Foundation or another statutory institution.
Decision links punishment of officials convicted over crackdown directly to financial redress for victims of uprising, which began as student-led protests against government job quotas before expanding into nationwide movement against Hasina’s government.
Hundreds of people were killed during weeks of unrest and security-force crackdowns before Hasina’s government collapsed on Aug. 5, 2024, ending her more than 15 years in power.
Three-member tribunal headed by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury delivered 557-page verdict against seven defendants, all of whom were tried in absentia.
Besides Quader, Nasim, Arafat, Parash and Nikhil, defendants included Chhatra League President Saddam Hussain and General Secretary Sheikh Wali Asif Inan. Chhatra League was student wing of Awami League, while Jubo League served as party’s youth wing.
Tribunal did not order confiscation of assets belonging to Saddam or Inan.
Verdict represents part of Bangladesh’s wider effort to prosecute former government officials and political leaders accused of responsibility for violence during uprising.
International Crimes Tribunal, originally established to prosecute atrocities committed during Bangladesh’s 1971 independence war, has since been used to hear cases stemming from 2024 crackdown.
Tuesday’s order also gives prosecutions financial dimension by directing wealth belonging to convicted political leaders toward those who suffered during the uprising, rather than limiting punishment to prison or death sentences.
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