Complaint lodged against Hasina, Moeen U Ahmed in ICT

A case has been filed in the International Crimes Tribunal against 58 individuals, including Sheikh Hasina and the then Army Chief Moeen U Ahmed, on charges related to the Pilkhana massacre.

The complaint was filed by the families of the martyred army officers on Thursday through lawyer Tasmirul Islam, addressed to the Chief Prosecutor of the tribunal.

Later, members of the affected families said that Sheikh Hasina and her party, the Awami League, with the aim of implementing a political agenda against Bangladesh’s national and state interests, systematically planned to destroy two powerful institutions of Bangladesh's security and defense—the Bangladesh Army and Bangladesh Rifles (BDR).

To achieve this objective, a section of professional, honest, capable, and patriotic army officers working in the Bangladesh Rifles at the time were made the primary targets.

They claimed that Sheikh Hasina identified these patriotic army officers as the first and main obstacles to consolidating her autocratic rule.

She allegedly planned to carry out genocide and crimes against humanity against these officers and their families to secure her grip on power.

Under the leadership, planning, and directives of former illegal Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Tariq Ahmed Siddique, others involved carried out a horrific massacre at the Pilkhana headquarters from 9:00am on February 25, 2009, to the evening of February 26, 2009.

A total of 74 people lost their lives in this incident.

The families expressed that the sacrifices made by the patriotic common people had helped them regain their independence and freedom of speech.

They now have renewed hope for life.

They made an earnest appeal to the government to support a fair investigation and trial of the Pilkhana massacre.

They also urged for the release of the innocent and wrongfully detained BDR personnel who had been held in prison for years due to a conspiracy in the past fascist era.

They called for the establishment of justice for all victims of the 24 July movement and other anti-fascist struggles, the payment of compensation to the injured, and exemplary punishment for the criminals to cleanse the nation of its shame.