July Killing Case: Death penalty for 7 including Quader, Nasim, and Arafat
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Seven individuals, including Obaidul Quader, General Secretary of the Awami League (currently banned) have been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity committed during the July Uprising.
The other sentenced individuals are: AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Joint General Secretary of the Awami League, Mohammad A. Arafat, former State Minister for Information, Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash, Chairman of the banned Jubo League, Mainul Hossain Khan, General Secretary of the forbidden Jubo League, Saddam Hossain, President of the banned Chhatra League and Sheikh Wali Asif Inan, General Secretary of the banned Chhatra League.
A three-member panel of the International Crimes Tribunal-2, led by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, delivered the verdict in absentia on Tuesday. The other two judges on the panel were Md. Manjurul Basid and Noor Mohammad Shahriar Kabir.
The seven defendants were charged with ordering, inciting, and carrying out killings and torture to suppress the July 2024 movement.
This marks the seventh verdict delivered in cases concerning crimes against humanity during the July Uprising. In the previous six verdicts, 61 defendants received sentences.
Among those previously sentenced is ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Awami League President currently taking refuge in India, who was also handed a death sentence. Obaidul Quader, who is also in India, now receives the same penalty.
The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, which began in July 2024 demanding quota reform in government jobs, escalated into a mass uprising through a violent crackdown. Consequently, Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India on August 5 of that year.
The then-Awami League government took a severe stance to suppress the July movement. Crimes against humanity committed during that period are currently being tried in the International Crimes Tribunal originally established for 1971 war crimes.
Out of the 61 defendants sentenced across the seven verdicts to date, 15 have received the death penalty, including Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal. Among these 15, 11 remain absconding while four are currently in custody.
