Mahmudur Rahman, editor of the daily Amar Desh, has testified before the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) as a prosecution witness in the crimes against humanity case filed against ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and two of her aides.
The three-member ICT-1, headed by its chairman Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mojumder, recorded the testimony on Monday in the case.
Former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun are co-accused in the case filed for the crimes committed during the 2024 mass uprising.
National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener and former adviser Nahid Islam is also scheduled to testify in the same case on Tuesday.
So far, 46 witnesses have given testimony in the case. The proceedings of testimony will end after recording the deposition of two more witnesses, including Nahid.
ICT Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tajul Islam said that the arguments in the case will begin after two more testimonies.
In his testimony, Mahmudur Rahman said Hasina during her autocratic regime used to suppress the opposition like Hitler. Both Hasina and her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman harboured anti-military sentiments.
“Hasina was anti-military by family background. Both she and her father held deep-rooted resentment towards the military,” he told the court.
Referring to the 2009 BDR carnage at Peelkhana, he said that following the brutal massacre of patriotic army officers, Hasina moved to take control of the judiciary.
As part of that move, she evicted former prime minister Khaleda Zia from her residence and initiated steps to abolish the caretaker government system, he added.
On 1 June, the ICT-1 took cognisance of the formal charges submitted against the three accused in the case.
On 10 July, the tribunal indicted Hasina and two others, ordering the start of the trial. On that day, Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun expressed his wish to become a state witness, saying that he would reveal all the secrets related to the July massacres and would assist the tribunal in the trial.
Apart from the case, two other cases are pending against Hasina in the tribunal. One of them is related to the disappearances and murder incidents during the 15-and-a-half-year rule of the Awami League, and the other is related to the 2013 killing of Hefazat men at Shapla Chattar at Motijheel in the capital.