A complaint alleging crimes against humanity during the July uprising was filed on Tuesday with the office of the chief prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal against detained Beximco Group vice-chairman and deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s industries affairs adviser Salman F Rahman, along with 24 other businesspeople.
Motasim Billah Mahfuz, legal cell secretary of Students Against Discrimination, which led the July movement, filed the complaint naming 25 businesspeople and around 200 unnamed individuals, accusing them of facilitating atrocities during the student-led mass uprising by supporting the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, at a meeting at Ganabhaban on July 22, 2024, while the Hasina-led Awami League regime was conducting a crackdown on student protesters.
Neither Mahfuz nor the prosecution revealed the names of the accused businesspeople.
The Hasina-led Awami League regime was ousted from power on August 5, 2024 amid the student-led mass uprising.
ICT prosecutor Gazi Monwar Hossain Tamim, flanked by the July protesters, told journalists that the prosecution would scrutinise the allegations and forward the complaint to the investigation agency.
He said that the complaint was filed along with photographs, video footage of speeches made at the meeting, and newspaper reports.
Students Against Discrimination president Rifat Rashid later said that Salman F Rahman led the meeting.
‘We have listed the businessmen who attended the eeting. We submitted their names to the chief prosecutor,’ Rifat told journalists at the ICT compound.
He said that the prosecution was requested to send the complaint to the investigation agency.
Salman, a key corporate figure, is currently in jail and facing trial at the tribunal for his alleged involvement in instigating violence during the July uprising.
Rifat further alleged that the businessmen praised Hasina’s actions against the protesters and assured her of support, including a pledge to halt business operations for a month, if necessary.
He also claimed that businessmen linked to the Awami League remained active after Hasina’s removal and spent hundreds of crores of taka on online propaganda to destabilise the state.
