DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A murder charge has been filed against Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other officials over the killing of a grocery shop owner during student protests in July, authorities said Tuesday.
S.M. Amir Hamza, described as a “well-wisher” of grocery store owner Abu Sayeed, filed the case at the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury on Tuesday. Hamza said Sayeed was killed on July 19 amid clashes during the student-led uprising, and that he filed the case because Sayeed’s family did not have the capacity to seek justice.
Hasina, who stepped down and fled the country on Aug. 5, was named as a suspect in the petition along six other people including former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, General Secretary of then ruling Awami League party Obaidul Quader, and top police officials.
The Dhaka court asked the Mohammadpur Police Station to register the case. Police will now investigate the case and file a report to the court.
This is the first case against Hasina, and more cases are likely to be filed.
The development came amid calls by student protesters to charge Hasina and her supporters with murder for the deaths of more than 300 people including students and civilians during weeks of violence since July 15.
The uprising forced Hasina to leave office and flee to India, ending a 15-year rule that turned increasingly autocratic, her critics say.
An interim government is now running the country. On Thursday, Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel peace laureate, was sworn in as interim leader. Sixteen people, including two student protest leaders and others drawn mainly from civil society, were included in his interim Cabinet.
The new Cabinet members were chosen after talks between student leaders, civil society representatives and the military.
Hasina and her party’s many top leaders have either gone into hiding or have been barred from leaving the country.
Peaceful protests by students began in July against a quota system for government jobs that critics said favored people with connections to Hasina’s party.
Hasina, 76, was elected to a fourth consecutive term in January, but the vote was boycotted by her main opponents, with thousands of opposition activists detained beforehand. The U.S. and U.K. denounced the result as not credible. Hasina’s critics say her administration increasingly was marked by human rights abuses and corruption.
The chaos on Bangladesh’s streets continued after her resignation. Dozens of police officers were killed, prompting police to stop working across the country. Police officers have gradually returned to work.