Bangladesh
Bangladesh: Police arrest 1971 war crimes advocacy group leader Shahriar Kabir
Dhaka/IBNS: Bangladesh police have arrested Shahriar Kabir, a prominent leader of an advocacy group pushing for the trial of 1971 liberation war criminals, officials confirmed on Tuesday.
"We have arrested Shahriar Kabir," a police officer told ANI over the phone.
"He faces 10 charges, including murder and other crimes," Dhaka Police stated, without providing further details.
Kabir, who serves as president of the advisory council for the Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, is expected to appear in court later on Wednesday.
Kazi Mukul, Executive President of the Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, said Kabir was detained from his residence in Dhaka’s Mohakhali area at midnight on Monday.
The committee, established in January 1992, campaigns for the prosecution of those responsible for crimes against humanity during Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan.
According to Dhaka Tribune, Mufti Harun Izhar Chowdhury, joint secretary of the Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam, filed a complaint with the International Crimes Tribunal on August 20.
The complaint accuses former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Shahriar Kabir, and 22 others of crimes against humanity during a 2013 rally in Motijheel.
Shahriar Kabir, a well-known Bangladeshi journalist, filmmaker, and human rights activist, has authored several works on human rights, communism, religious extremism, and the Bangladesh Liberation War.
In a related development, Bangladesh police recently detained two senior journalists near the India-Bangladesh border in Mymensingh.
Shyamal Dutta and Mozammel Babu, both reportedly close associates of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, were taken into custody.
Hasina was removed from office a month ago following a student-led protest that claimed over 600 lives.
She fled to India on August 5, and an interim government, headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, now governs Bangladesh.
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