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Published : 20 Aug 2025, 09:00 PM
Sonia Jamal, mother of slain student Mehedi Hasan Junaed, has testified in the International Crimes Tribunal case against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Sonia broke down in tears on Wednesday while testifying as a witness before the two-member tribunal headed by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder.
Along with Hasina, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun are named as accused in the case.
Hasanul Banna, associate professor at Ibn Sina Hospital, also testified in the case.
In her deposition, Sonia said her son Junaed, 14, was killed on Aug 5 last year at Chankharpul.
She said on Aug 5, around 10:30am, her son went to join the July Uprising protests, and she left to join as well.
When she returned home, she found him lying on the bed. A bullet had pierced through near his left eye and exited through the back of his head, leaving a big hole behind along with heavy bleeding.
She added that Junaed had been shot dead on the pavement beside the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery during the protest, and that his friends Siam and Abdur Rauf had taken him to the hospital, where doctors declared him dead. His body was later brought home.
Holding top Awami League leaders responsible, she said his killing was ordered by Hasina, Asaduzzaman, Obaidul Quader and Mamun.
The other witness, Hasanul Banna, told the tribunal that Awami League men obstructed treatment of the injured at Ibn Sina Medical College Hospital in Kallyanpur during the July Uprising.
He said: “From the 18th of July, many injured arrived at our hospital. Some required surgery.”
“That evening, police and Awami League men disrupted treatment and barred admissions. They checked registers and took patient lists. On the 19th of July, Awami League activists barricaded the hospital gates and did not allow any ambulance in or out.”
Hasanul said they had to admit injured diagnostic technologist Mostakin Billah in secret, as he was shot in the head while protesting in Mirpur.
Even though they sent an ambulance to bring in a neurosurgeon, Awami League activists prevented the ambulance from leaving.
After being turned away at other hospitals, Mostakin was declared dead at Ibn Sina Specialized Hospital in Dhanmondi.
Hasanul said he and colleagues were forced to treat gunshot victims under false names and with disguised diagnoses, hiding them in general wards, ICU and cabins to avoid police attention.
He said Hasina, Asaduzzaman, Quader, Hasan Mahmud, Mohammad A Arafat, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, other Awami League leaders and senior police officials are responsible for the incidents.
