ICT charges filed against Sheikh Hasina & 40 others over crackdown on Hefazat-e-Islam rally at Shapla Chattar in 2013
In a Nutshell:
- The ICT filed charges against Sheikh Hasina and 40 others over the 2013 Hefazat-e-Islam rally crackdown.
- The case concerns events on May 5 and 6, 2013, when security forces cleared protesters from Shapla Chattar in Dhaka.
- The charges follow allegations of killings, injuries, and abuses during the crackdown on the rally.
Why it Matters
The Shapla Chattar case will test how Bangladesh confronts allegations that state institutions were used against protesters and political opponents during the Hasina era. But the case is not only about what happened in 2013, it is also about why allegations of state violence remained unresolved for more than a decade. For victims and their families, justice cannot depend on who holds power
What We Think
More than a decade after Shapla Chattar crackdown, one of the darkes episodes of Hasina's rule is finally before ICT. With a BNP-led government now in power and Hasina outside country, the case carries political weight far beyond the courtroom. The charges now raise a central question: if prosecutors believe crimes against humanity were committed, why did legal action begin only after the government accused of overseeing the crackdown lost power? Prosecutors say 58 people were killed during the violence, making the proceedings not just a test of individual accountability, but also of whether Bangladesh can deliver justice for one of the deadliest civilian crackdowns of the Hasina era.
