STAFF CORRESPONDENT

The International Crimes Tribunal-2 yesterday recorded the testimony of the 12th prosecution witness in the case over the killing of Begum Rokeya University Rangpur (BRUR) student Abu Sayed during the July uprising, with prosecutors expecting the trial proceedings to conclude by January next year.

“We expect to record statements of 30 to 35 witnesses in total. While we cannot say when the verdict will be delivered, we hope to complete the trial proceedings by January,” said Prosecutor Mizanul Islam.

Earlier in the day, Aquib Reza Khan, a former electrical and electronic engineering student at BRUR and one of the participants in last year’s anti-discrimination student protests in Rangpur, testified before the tribunal.

Aquib took part in the protest and was shot and wounded with shotgun pellets.

The witness said on July 16, 2024, police opened fire on students protesting attacks on their peers. As students attempted to enter the university campus, police blocked the gates and used sound grenades, batons, and tear gas to disperse them.

During the chaos, Aquib said he saw police beat Abu Sayed before retreating, while some teachers, staff, and Chhatra League activists hurled brick chips from inside.

When students reopened the gate, police again fired rubber bullets and tear gas. “Sayed stood with his hands raised so that police would not shoot, yet ASI Md Amir Hossain and constable Sujon Chandra Roy opened fire on him,” Aquib said, adding that Sayed later died in hospital.

Meanwhile, at the ICT-1, two policemen testified as the seventh and eighth prosecution witnesses in the crimes against humanity case over the killing of two and injuring of two others during the July uprising in Dhaka’s Rampura.

Five police officials, including former DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman, are accused in the case. Of them, former assistant sub-inspector of Rampura Police Station Chanchal Chandra Sarkar is in custody, while the others remain absconding.

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