DAKAR, Bangladesh

A Bangladesh national court on Sunday issued arrest warrants for 17 police officers, including the former chief of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, for mass killings and crimes against humanity.

The International Criminal Court said it found prima facie evidence of genocide against all accused officers.

The Dhaka court also announced the arrest of 20 former ministers, legislators, police officers and soldiers from the previous government led by ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The arrests are linked to similar accusations of massacres that allegedly took place during student-led protests in July and August, which ultimately led Hasina to flee to neighboring India on August 5.

After his departure, Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus was named head of a transitional government on August 8, responding to the demands of student protesters.

The court asked the authorities to produce the accused before the court by November 20. The order was passed by the three-member bench, headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Majumdar, after an appeal by chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam.

Islam told reporters that investigators had found evidence of “inhumane activities violating international laws” involving police officers and other officials from the previous Hasina administration.

Earlier, on October 17, the court had issued arrest warrants against Hasina and 46 senior officials of her government, including her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and sister Sheikh Rehana, on similar charges of massacres and crimes against humanity during student demonstrations.

The student-led protests, which demanded political reforms and accountability, saw at least 736 people killed and more than 22,000 injured, many by gunfire, in violent clashes with police, other security forces. order and supporters of the Awami League.

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