Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on Wednesday, 24 September 2026, formally ordered former Awami League lawmaker Zafar Alam to be sent to jail after declaring him 'arrested' in a crimes against humanity case. The case centres on the alleged killings of two opposition workers — one a BNP supporter and the other a Jamaat-e-Islami worker — carried out, according to prosecutors, under Alam's leadership during the Awami League's tenure in power.

What the Case Alleges

Prosecutor Md. Mizanul Islam told reporters that two individuals were allegedly killed under Alam's leadership on two separate occasions — one following the funeral of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, and the other after the disappearance of current Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed. Sayeedi, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment in a separate 1971 Liberation War crimes case, died in 2023. Salahuddin Ahmed had disappeared in 2015, according to Bangladeshi Bengali daily Prothom Alo.

Alam's Arrest and Legal History

Zafar Alam was first arrested by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police in the Dhanmondi area of Dhaka on 27 April 2025. He was produced before the Tribunal on Wednesday, following which the ICT ordered his formal remand to jail. Following the Awami League's ouster in 2024, approximately 15 to 16 cases were filed against him across Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Chakaria, and Pekua, including multiple murder charges.

Awami League Hits Back

The Awami League on Thursday strongly condemned the Tribunal's decision, calling the proceedings 'questionable and unjustified.' The party argued that the ICT was established to try large-scale atrocities — not isolated local incidents — and questioned whether a clash resulting in a single death could legally qualify as a crime against humanity under international legal standards.

The party went further, directly accusing Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed of weaponising the Tribunal for personal and political revenge. In a pointed statement, the Awami League warned: 'Home Minister Salahuddin is using the Tribunal as if it were his personal property to pursue political revenge... Stop this harassment and political vengeance immediately. Otherwise, time and history may eventually bring you to the same dock.'

Broader Context

The case unfolds against the backdrop of Bangladesh's turbulent post-2024 political landscape, in which the fall of the Awami League government has been followed by a wave of prosecutions targeting party figures. Critics and legal observers have noted that the ICT — originally conceived to try perpetrators of the 1971 Liberation War massacres — has faced recurring questions about the scope of its jurisdiction and political independence. This is not the first time opposition parties have alleged that successive governments have used the Tribunal as a tool for settling political scores, a charge that has been levelled by both sides of Bangladesh's deep political divide over the years. The case of Zafar Alam is being closely watched as a test of whether the post-Awami League administration can demonstrate judicial independence in its use of the Tribunal's extraordinary powers.