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International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Chief Prosecutor M Tajul Islam has sent a letter to the home ministry and the police seeking Interpol red notices against Awami League leader Obaidul Quader and nine others for their arrest on charges of crimes against humanity during the July Uprising.
The others named in the list are former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, former Liberation War affairs minister AKM Mozammel Haque, former information minister Hasan Mahmud, former jute minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak, former Dhaka South mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, former education minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel, former state minister for power Nasrul Hamid Bipu, former state minister for information Mohammad Ali Arafat and Tarique Ahmed Siddique, security advisor of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, bdnews24.com reports.
On Thursday, Tajul said: “The tribunal has already issued arrest warrants for the fugitives in the case over crimes against humanity.”
“We’ve prepared a court order and the necessary documents and forwarded a letter to the home ministry and police headquarters. Now the home minister will take the necessary steps in line with the law.”
The tribunal, originally established by the Awami League government in 2010 to prosecute war crimes from the 1971 Liberation War, is now being used by the interim government to try cases of what it terms “genocide” linked to student-led protests against the Sheikh Hasina administration.
As part of the initiative, the tribunal has been rejigged with new judges and prosecutors.
As many as 56 allegations of “genocide and crimes against humanity”, committed between Jul 5 and Aug 5, were submitted to the tribunal’s investigation agency and prosecution office.
In those cases, the tribunal has issued arrest warrants for 141 individuals, including Hasina.
The chief prosecutor sent a letter on Dec 22 seeking an Interpol red notice against Hasina. Including the previous request, he has sought red notices against 10 people, including eight former Awami League ministers.
“We don’t yet have any information on the [progress in] issuance of an Interpol red notice for Sheikh Hasina,” he said.