A SPECIAL tribunal set up to try Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina began proceedings Sunday by accepting charges of crimes against humanity filed against her.

The charges follow last year’s mass uprising when hundreds of students were killed.

The Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal directed investigators to bring Ms Hasina, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah al Mamun, before the court on June 16.

Ms Hasina has been in exile in India since August 5 2024, while former home minister Mr Khan is missing and Mr Mamun has already been arrested. 

Ms Hasina and her Awami League party had earlier slammed the tribunal and its prosecution team for their connection with political parties, especially with the Jamaat-e-Islami party.

Ms Hasina is accused of ordering all state forces, her Awami League party and its associates to carry out actions that led to mass killings, injuries, targeted violence against women and children, the incineration of bodies and denial of medical treatment to the wounded.

Three days after Ms Hasina’s ousting, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over as the nation’s interim leader.