The Bangladesh Army on Saturday said it has taken into custody 15 serving officers after the country's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD) ordered their arrest to stand trial for alleged crimes against humanity committed during the regime of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina. "Directives were issued asking 16 officers to report to the army headquarters. Fifteen of them responded,” the army's Adjutant General, Major General Mohammad Hakimuzzaman, told a media briefing at the military headquarters here. He said one officer, Major General Kabir Ahmed, who served as the former prime minister's military secretary, did not report and has gone into hiding. “Major General Kabir went into hiding. Activities are underway to prevent him from going abroad,” Hakimuzzaman said. Those who reported were placed in military custody and have been kept away from their families, he added. According to the briefing, among the 16 officers summoned were two major generals, six brigadier generals, and several colonels and lieutenant colonels. The development came amid widespread speculation, particularly on social media, about whether serving military officers would be tried in a civilian tribunal instead of military courts under the Army Act for alleged crimes they committed while discharging their duties during the past regime. The army said it is respectful to “all constitution-acknowledged laws of Bangladesh and measures would be taken against the officers in custody in line with the law”. The ICT-BD on Wednesday issued arrest warrants against 30 individuals after accepting charges filed by the prosecution in two cases involving alleged “enforced disappearances or abduction and torture of political dissidents during the Awami League regime". Hasina, who is currently in India, has been named the key suspect in both cases. Of the 30 accused, 25 are serving or retired military officers, including five former directors general of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI). Several of these officers also served in the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), which draws personnel from the armed forces and police. Prosecutors said 17 of the accused were allegedly involved in torture at RAB's Taskforce Interrogation Cell, while 13 others are accused of abuses at the Joint Interrogation Cell. Among those named is retired Major General Tarique Ahmed Siddique, the deposed premier's defence and security adviser, who is reportedly on the run. The army's announcement came a day after police said they received the ICT-BD's order to execute arrest warrants against 32 people, including serving and retired military officers. However, Hakimuzzaman said the army headquarters did not receive any such warrants but took the initiative to detain its officers independently. The ICT-BD was established in 2010 during Hasina's government to try hardened collaborators of Pakistani forces in the 1971 Liberation War. The tribunal's operations were later suspended under the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, which amended the ICT-BD law to allow trials of leaders from the past regime. ICT-BD's chief prosecutor Tajul Islam on Wednesday named Hasina and her former defence adviser Tarique Siddique as key accused in both the cases.
