The witness’s deposition was recorded before the bench of Justice Md Mohitul Haque Enam Chowdhury.
Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon and Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader. TBS collage/File
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Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon and Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader. TBS collage/File
His eldest son was shot during an anti-government protest. As he rushed to help him, the 55-year-old father himself became a target. He recounted before International Crimes Tribunal-1 today (9 September) how he was eventually forced to flee his surrounded Azimpur home by jumping from one rooftop to another.
The witness, whose identity was withheld for security reasons, testified as Prosecution Witness-2 in a crimes against humanity case against Awami League Presidium Member Kamrul Islam and Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon. His deposition was recorded before the bench of Justice Md Mohitul Haque Enam Chowdhury.
He said he was informed around 7pm on 19 July 2024 that his eldest son, Rezaul Karim Reza, had been shot in the leg while protesting in Nilkhet.
He said that after a 14-Party meeting on the day, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader announced at a press conference the decision to impose a curfew and shoot protesters on sight. Rashed Khan Menon, a senior leader of the 14-Party alliance, was beside him at the meeting. Former minister Advocate Kamrul Islam was also present.
He said violence had escalated across Dhaka that day, with protesters killed in New Market and Azimpur and several others killed in Badda and Rampura, including 11-year-old Tamim Shikder.
From 20 July, RAB, police, BGB, Chhatra League and Jubo League activists allegedly conducted house-to-house searches in Dhaka South City Corporation areas, beating protesters, handing them over to law enforcement and robbing them. His home was also searched.
As Awami League and Chhatra League activists allegedly began looking for him for helping protesters, he fled to Chattogram on 24 July. His ancestral home in Satkania was also attacked, he said. He later returned to Dhaka and continued helping injured protesters.
On 2 August, local Awami League activists surrounded his Azimpur home, forcing him to escape across rooftops. He then fled to Chattogram, where he said AKM Nurullah, a law student at Chittagong Islamic University, was shot by police, Jubo League and Chhatra League activists on 4 August and permanently disabled.
He also said his friend Khalilur Rahman was badly wounded by pellets in Badda on 5 August and later received five months of treatment in Thailand, but remained disabled.
The witness blamed Quader, Menon and Kamrul for advising Sheikh Hasina during the crackdown and sought their maximum punishment. Defence lawyers later cross-examined him.
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