Dhaka, Sep 18 (V7N) – Nahid Islam, one of the key organizers of the July Uprising and convener of the National Citizen’s Party (NCP), testified for the second consecutive day against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and three others in a crimes against humanity case.

The testimony resumed on Thursday (September 18) before a three-member bench of the International Crimes Tribunal, headed by Justice Golam Mortuza Majumdar. Nahid is the final prosecution witness in the case. He also testified for about an hour and a half at the tribunal on Wednesday.

In his latest statement, Nahid Islam alleged that after the arrest of July Uprising leaders, the Sheikh Hasina administration exerted heavy pressure on them to withdraw their movement. He further claimed that from July 16 onwards, the media was restrained from publishing the true accounts of the massacre and barred from highlighting the programs of the protesters.

He told the tribunal that Sheikh Hasina, the then Home Minister, and senior law enforcement officials bore responsibility for the July killings. He demanded exemplary punishment for them.

Earlier, in his opening testimony, Nahid described the repression of ordinary students by Awami League and Chhatra League activists during the uprising.

Meanwhile, the tribunal is expected to deliver its order today on whether charges will be framed against five accused, including former Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Habibur Rahman, in a separate case over the Rampura incident — where Amir Hossain was shot while hanging from a cornice, and two others were killed.

END/SMA/AJ