Zakir Hossain from Dhaka
Appellate Division Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, popularly known as Z. R. Chowdhury, has been appointed as the 26th Chief Justice of Bangladesh, officials confirmed on Monday.
The appointment was finalised at Bangabhaban, the President’s House. He will take oath on December 28, succeeding incumbent Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed, who retires on December 27 upon reaching the constitutional age limit.
Born on May 18, 1961, Justice Chowdhury is the son of late AFM Abdur Rahman Chowdhury, a former Supreme Court judge. He completed his LLB (Honours) and LLM from the University of Dhaka and later earned a postgraduate degree in international law from the United Kingdom.
He enrolled as a lawyer in the district judges’ court in 1985 and the High Court Division in 1987. He was appointed as an additional High Court judge on August 27, 2003, with his post made permanent two years later. On August 12, 2024, President Mohammed Shahabuddin appointed him to the Appellate Division, and he took oath the following day.
Sheikh Hasina, 16 others charged by tribunal over enforced disappearances
Meanwhile Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) on Tuesday framed charges against 17 accused, including former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, in a crimes against humanity case involving allegations of enforced disappearances during the Awami League regime.
The three-member tribunal read out four charges against the accused, which also include Hasina’s former defence and security adviser Major General (retired) Tarique Ahmed Siddique and 11 army officers. Ten former Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) officers were produced before the tribunal and pleaded not guilty when asked whether they accepted the charges. One of them told the court that they expected justice through the tribunal.
The accused officers include Brigadier General Md Qamrul Hasan, Brigadier GeneralTofayel Mostafa Sarwar, Brigadier GeneralMd Mahbub Alam, Brigadier General Md Jahangir Alam, Colonel AKM Azad, Colonel Abdullah Al Momen, Colonel Md Sarwar Bin Kashem, Colonel Anowar Latif Khan, Lt Colonel Md Moshiur Rahman Jewel and Lt Colonel Md Saiful Islam Sumon.
The tribunal fixed January 21 for the prosecution’s opening statements. According to prosecutors, 14 detainees were illegally confined and tortured at the TFI cell between 2016 and 2024.