DM Monitoring
DHAKA: Bangladeshi police said on Friday that they had filed a new criminal case against ousted premier Sheikh Hasina over an alleged plot to overthrow the government that replaced her.
Hasina is currently exiled in neighbouring India, her autocratic regime’s biggest patron and benefactor, after she was overthrown in a student-led revolution last August.
Numerous criminal indictments have been issued against her and top loyalists of her Awami League party, including over a crackdown by security forces that killed hundreds of demonstrators during last year’s unrest.
The latest case centres on a virtual meeting attended by nearly 600 Awami League members in December, which police said had conspired to “wage civil war in Bangladesh” with the aim of restoring Hasina to power.
“Many of them, both inside and outside the country, pledged to continue their fight until their last breath,” the case documents stated.
Police spokesman Jasim Uddin Khan told AFP that charges had initially been filed against Hasina and 72 others, but that the number of defendants may increase as the investigation progressed.
“The number of participants in the virtual meeting was 577. We are investigating their roles, and if found complicit in the conspiracy, they will be charged,” he said.
A report from the UN rights office earlier this year stated that Hasina’s government was responsible for systematic attacks and killings of protesters as it attempted to hold onto power last year.
Bangladesh is currently being led by an interim administration with Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, 84, at the helm.
His caretaker government is tasked with implementing democratic reforms ahead of fresh elections slated to take place by June 2026.
Earlier, A case has been filed against former prime minister and Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina along with 73 others on charges of treason, while US Awami League’s vice president Rabbi Alam has been named as the second accused.
Moreover, 503 individuals who participated in an online meeting have also been implicated. The information was disclosed in a media statement from the Police Headquarters on Thursday.
According to the statement, the accused allegedly conspired to overthrow the current government and planned a civil war during a virtual meeting on an online platform called “Joy Bangla Brigade”.
The case statement, as cited, claims that intelligence sources revealed that on Dec 19, participants in the online meeting pledged to form the “Joy Bangla Brigade” and fight until Hasina, who is currently in exile, was reinstated as prime minister.
A total of 577 individuals from different locations around the world reportedly joined the Zoom meeting and expressed their commitment to following Hasina’s directives.
