British Bangladeshi lawyer's case against Sheikh Hasina in international court

A British Bangladeshi lawyer and 2 other British lawyers have filed a case against Sheikh Hasina at the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity and genocide in Bangladesh.

The case was filed under Article 15 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) by Barrister Md Ashraful Arefin of 3 Bolt Court Chambers. This lawyer is accompanied by Barrister Sarah Foray and Barrister Emile Lixandrou.

In a press conference at the London Bangla Press Club to announce the case, Barrister MA Arefin Ashraful and his colleagues said that in July 2024, an unprecedented student movement began in Bangladesh, which came to be known as the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.

Faced with this anti-discrimination student movement, the government responded with brutal violence. The government deployed forces such as the police, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and the Awami League's student body, the Chhatra League, to quell the peaceful student protests. These forces indiscriminately attack peaceful protesters using live ammunition, rubber bullets, sound grenades, and lethal weapons—such as birdshot pellets and live ammunition. More than 1,400 people were martyred and thousands were injured, many of them permanently crippled, in this worst atrocity in history.

As a result of this draconian system of the former Bangladesh government, genocide, extrajudicial killings, torture and the disappearance of numerous protesters have occurred in the country. These acts of cruelty and human rights violations are examples of violations of international humanitarian law and crimes against humanity.

Lawyers said there is considerable doubt whether Bangladesh's judicial system will be able to impartially investigate this serious crime.