Published : 16 Sep 2026, 06:09 PM
Updated : 16 Sep 2026, 06:09 PM
Prosecutors have filed formal charges against eight people, including former Dhaka University vice-chancellor ASM Maksud Kamal and academic Zafar Iqbal, over alleged crimes against humanity linked to attacks on protesters at the university during the July Uprising.
The charges were submitted to the registrar’s office of International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) on Wednesday.
The six other accused are Dhaka University Professor AKM Jamal Uddin, retired Appellate Division Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, former Bangladesh Chhatra League President Saddam Hossain and General Secretary Sheikh Wali Asif Enan, and the organisation’s former Dhaka University unit President Mazharul Kabir Shayan and General Secretary Tanbir Hasan Shaikat.
Manik, Jamal and Shaikat are currently in jail, while the other five are fugitives.
ICT Prosecutor Gazi MH Tamim said the charges concern allegations of incitement, conspiracy and complicity in attacks by Chhatra League and Jubo League activists and police on protesters in the Dhaka University area during the uprising.
The prosecution alleges that the accused encouraged and facilitated attacks on protesters following remarks made by then prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Jul 14, 2024.
Tamim alleged that after Hasina referred to the protesters as “grandchildren of Razakars” or “children of Razakars”, the accused acted on those remarks by using people under their authority to attack and torture protesters.
He also alleged that some of the accused conspired with Hasina over the phone to kill and torture students.
Tamim initially declined to identify all the accused because several remain at large, but later confirmed in response to journalists’ questions that Maksud Kamal, Saddam and Enan were among the eight charged.
The case stems from attacks on students at Dhaka University during the movement demanding reforms to quotas in government jobs in 2024.
An application was filed on Oct 21 that year seeking a case against Hasina and 390 others over the attacks. The complaint also sought to name another 800 to 1,000 unidentified people as accused.
More than 100 people, including journalists, were injured when Chhatra League activists attacked protesters at Dhaka University on Jul 15, 2024.
The injured were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
The violence followed rival programmes announced by quota reform protesters and Chhatra League at the Raju Memorial Sculpture after remarks by Hasina the previous day.
Clashes subsequently broke out and Chhatra League leaders and activists attacked the protesters.
The quota reform protests intensified across Bangladesh in the days that followed, amid clashes and violence that left scores of people dead.
The movement eventually developed into a one-point campaign for the ouster of Hasina’s government.
