The International Crimes Tribunal-2 (ICT-2) has sentenced seven fugitive political figures to death for crimes against humanity committed during the July-August Mass Uprising 2024.

The three-member tribunal, headed by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury alongside Justices Md Manzurul Bashid and Nur Mohammad Shahriar Kabir, delivered the verdict this afternoon at approximately 12:15 pm on Tuesday (September 15, 2026).

The convicted individuals comprise former Awami League General Secretary and minister Obaidul Quader, Awami League Joint General Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim, former State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat, Jubo League President Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash, Jubo League General Secretary Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil, Bangladesh Chhatra League President Saddam Hossain, and Chhatra League General Secretary Wali Asif Enan. All seven convicts remain at large.

The tribunal detailed specific criminal accountability for each defendant.

Obaidul Quader, acting as Awami League General Secretary, former Minister of Road Transport and Bridges, and a core member of the executive "Gang of Four," was convicted for orchestrating systematic state violence, murder, attempted murder, and torture through direct orders, incitement, conspiracy, and abetment.

On July 11, 2024, Quader instructed BCL President Saddam Hossain over the telephone to violently suppress the protests, asking, “Why aren't you hitting them, why show them indulgence?” On July 15, he publicly incited armed cadres at the Dhanmondi party office by declaring that the "Chhatra League will answer self-proclaimed Razakars," triggering campus invasions that injured nearly 300 students at Dhaka University.

Furthermore, Quader coordinated financial distributions to armed cadres via his personal secretary and student leadership, directed former ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak to throttle internet speeds, ordered former Chittagong Mayor AJM Nasir to forcibly occupy Chittagong University and the city, announced a nationwide curfew on July 19 with explicit "shoot-at-sight" directives and conspired with senior ministers and law enforcement to deploy helicopter sniper attacks and arson cover-ups, leading to over 1,400 deaths and 25,000 injuries nationwide.

AFM Bahauddin Nasim, serving as Awami League Central Joint General Secretary and former Member of Parliament for Dhaka-8, was convicted for murder, attempted murder, torture, abetment, incitement, and conspiracy.

He participated in high-level party decision-making meetings on July 9, July 15, and August 3, supporting directives to crush the student demonstrations.

Nasim executed the nationwide "shoot-at-sight" curfew policy, personally supervised violent crackdowns in Madaripur through former mayor Khalid Hossain Yaad that caused deaths on July 18-19, and delivered an incendiary speech at Farmgate on August 4 branding protesters as "Jamaat-Shibir, war criminals, identified terrorists, and anti-independence forces."

This rhetoric incited armed cadres and law enforcement to open fire across his Dhaka-8 constituency—including Bangla Motor, Paltan, Dhaka Medical College Hospital area, Gulistan, and Chankharpool—resulting in at least 13 named fatalities on August 4-5.

Mohammad Ali Arafat, an Awami League Executive Committee Member, former State Minister for Information and Broadcasting, and former MP for Dhaka-17, was convicted for state atrocity crimes, murder, attempted murder, and torture.

On the night of July 14, 2024, Arafat personally entered the Dhaka University campus alongside Jubo League and BCL leaders to stage armed displays of force, plan attacks, and orchestrate campus internet shutdowns ahead of assaults that injured nearly 300 students the following day.

He publicly threatened demonstrators by referencing a five-year stockpile of law enforcement ammunition on July 19, and coordinated active media censorship, agreeing during a July 20 telephone call with Obaidul Quader to forcibly halt broadcasts of television channels such as Bangla Vision, Desh TV, Channel 24, and NTV to suppress news coverage of state violence.

Under his direct supervision, armed party cadres operating under police cover opened fire on protesters in his Dhaka-17 constituency, including Mohakhali, Nadda, Shahjadpur, and Banani, killing at least 12 named individuals while he subsequently defended the "shoot-at-sight" curfew and justified maximum state force in public press briefings on July 22, August 1 and 4.

Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash, Chairman of the Awami Jubo League and Awami League Central Executive Committee Member, was convicted for exercising command responsibility over Jubo League cadres deployed nationwide.

Operating under top-level regime directives, he commanded cadres to utilize lethal firearms against unarmed demonstrators, resulting in mass casualties such as the Bahaddarhat massacre in Chittagong on July 18 (19 deaths), the Mohakhali attacks in Dhaka on July 19 (more than 28 deaths), multiple fatal shootings in Laxmipur and Feni on August 4 (11 combined deaths), and student killings in Rajshahi on August 5.

On August 1, Parash presided over an event at Bangabandhu Avenue demanding maximum alertness to eradicate the student movement, and intercepted telephone communications from the same day confirmed his direct ongoing coordination with Obaidul Quader to supervise armed operations across Bangladesh.

Md Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil, Central General Secretary of the Awami Jubo League, Central Executive Committee Member, and former MP for Dhaka-14, was convicted for murder, torture, and conspiracy.

He initiated provocative rhetoric on July 12 in Sylhet, co-led the armed entry into Dhaka University on the night of July 14 where BCL cadres were documented firing pistols directly at students on July 15, and personally led armed cadres alongside police commanders in Mirpur on July 19, resulting in the fatal shootings of 26 protesters near Mirpur Police Station at approximately 5 pm.

Nikhil co-conducted the August 1 meeting instructing cadres to eliminate the uprising and maintained direct field command over armed operations in Mirpur through August 4-5, overseeing violence that caused 69 deaths in the Mirpur area alone alongside thousands of severe injuries.

Md Saddam Hossain, Central President of the Bangladesh Chhatra League, was convicted for widespread violence against student protesters.

On July 11, he threatened demonstrators at the Raju Sculpture and received direct telephone instructions, strategy, and funding from Obaidul Quader to crush the movement.

On July 14-15, Saddam led helmeted BCL cadres armed with firearms and blunt weapons across Dhaka University, issuing public threats to "see the end" of protesters, which resulted in assaults injuring nearly 300 students and the deliberate blockade of emergency medical care at hospital facilities.

He continued mobilizing BCL cadres across educational institutions and districts, issuing further public threats on July 15-16 that directly caused six deaths on July 16 in Dhaka, Chittagong, and Rangpur, over 400 injuries on July 17, and at least 23 deaths with more than 2,500 injuries nationwide on July 18.

Sheikh Wali Asif Inan, Central General Secretary of the Bangladesh Chhatra League, was convicted of abetment, incitement, and conspiracy.

Inan received operational funds and instructions from Obaidul Quader via Quader's personal secretary, conducted intimidating "Door-to-Door Campaigns" on July 13 to coerce residential hall students, and co-led armed, helmeted BCL cadres onto the Dhaka University campus on July 14-15 to physically assault peaceful protesters.

He personally supervised field attacks at Madhur Canteen and campus grounds, co-conducted the July 16 rally at Raju Sculpture that provoked nationwide cadre shootings killing six people, and blocked injured students from receiving medical treatment.
Furthermore, a leaked telephone conversation broadcast by Al Jazeera on July 17 confirmed he received direct directives from former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to execute nationwide violence, holding direct command responsibility for BCL attacks on July 18 that killed at least 23 people and injured over 2,500 across Bangladesh.