15 Army Officers Transferred from International Crimes Tribunal Custody

Fifteen army officers accused in three separate cases over crimes against humanity have been taken from the premises of the International Crimes Tribunal.

Around 10 a.m. on Wednesday, prison authorities placed the officers into a green prison van marked Bangladesh Jail, which later departed the tribunal compound. After the hearing, defense lawyer M. Sarwar Hossain told reporters that his clients would be kept in a sub-jail.

Earlier, on October 8, the tribunal had issued arrest warrants against 25 current and former army officers in connection with two cases related to enforced disappearances and torture during the 15-year Awami League government, and one case involving killings during the July uprising. On the same day, prosecutors formally submitted the charges to the tribunal.

On October 11, the Bangladesh Army announced that 15 of those officers had been taken into military custody, including one who was on Leave Preparatory to Retirement (LPR). The following day, the Home Ministry declared a building inside Dhaka Cantonment—MES Building No. 54—as a temporary prison, following a request from army headquarters.

This morning (Wednesday), the 15 officers were brought to the tribunal shortly after 7 a.m. Following the hearing, the International Crimes Tribunal-1, led by Justice Md. Golam Mortuza Majumdar with members Justice Md. Shafiul Alam Mahmood and Judge Md. Mohitul Haque Enam Chowdhury, ordered that the accused be sent to jail around 8:30 a.m.

The officers sent to prison are:

• Major General Sheikh Md. Sarwar Hossain

• Brigadier General Md. Jahangir Alam

• Brigadier General Tofayel Mostafa Sarwar

• Brigadier General Md. Kamrul Hasan

• Brigadier General Md. Mahabub Alam

• Brigadier General Md. Mahbubur Rahman Siddiqi

• Brigadier General Ahmed Tanvir Mazahar Siddiqi

• Brigadier KM Azad

• Colonel Abdullah Al Momen

• Colonel Anwar Latif Khan (on LPR)

• Lieutenant Colonel Md. Moshior Rahman

• Lieutenant Colonel Saiful Islam Sumon

• Lieutenant Colonel Md. Sarwar Bin Kashem

• Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Redwanul Islam

• Major Md. Rafat Bin Alam.