TBM Report
In a watershed moment for transitional justice and accountability, the International Crimes Tribunal-2 (ICT-2) has formally framed charges against 22 high-profile accused, including former Information Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud, former Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury Nowfel, and former Member of Parliament A B M Fazle Karim Chowdhury. The indictments stem from egregious crimes against humanity and targeted killings perpetrated against student protesters in Chittagong during the historic July 2024 mass uprising. The tribunal has scheduled August 6, 2026, for the presentation of opening statements and the formal deposition of state witnesses.
Out of the 22 indicted individuals, five currently detained suspects, including Fazle Karim Chowdhury, were produced before the tribunal under maximum security protocols. Upon the formal reading of the structural indictments detailing systematic state-sponsored violence, the tribunal queried the suspects regarding their pleas. All present defendants entered definitive pleas of “not guilty,” indicating their intent to mount a legal defense.
Exhibiting severe physical ailments, former lawmaker Fazle Karim Chowdhury was conveyed to the supreme court premises via a specialized medical ambulance and subsequently escorted into the courtroom on a medical stretcher. He remained in a recumbent position on the stretcher inside the well of the court throughout the entire duration of the judicial proceedings. The remaining 17 accused, who are currently evading law enforcement, are being tried in absentia under the tribunal’s statutory rules.
The comprehensive indictment ledger details three distinct, actionable charges involving the premeditated murder of six citizens and the infliction of grievous bodily harm upon over a hundred others. The first count charges the defendants with the July 16, 2024, targeted assassinations of student leaders Md. Wasim Akram, Foysal Ahmed Shanto, and pedestrian Md. Faruk in Chittagong’s Muradpur sector. The second count encapsulates the July 18, 2024, murders of student activists Tanvir Siddiqui, Md. Saimon, and Hriday Chandra in the Bahaddarhat intersection. The final count charges the group with orchestrating mass deployments of lethal force resulting in critical injuries to over a hundred civilian demonstrators.
 has formally framed charges against 22 high-profile accused, including former Information Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud, former Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury Nowfel, and former Member of Parliament A B M Fazle Karim Chowdhury. The indictments stem from egregious crimes against humanity and targeted killings perpetrated against student protesters in Chittagong during the historic July 2024 mass uprising. The tribunal has scheduled August 6, 2026, for the presentation of opening statements and the formal deposition of state witnesses.){kind=link}