International Crimes Tribunal asks to complete probe against ex-PM Sheikh Hasina and submit a report by December 17.

More than a dozen Bangladeshi former top government officials arrested after a mass uprising in August have been charged with “enabling massacres” before a special tribunal which also told investigators they have one month to complete their work on former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Dozens of Hasina’s allies were taken into custody since her regime collapsed, accused of involvement in a police crackdown that killed more than 1,000 people during the unrest that led to her removal and exile to India.

Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam on Monday said the 13 defendants, who included 11 former ministers, a judge and an ex-government secretary, were accused of command responsibility for the deadly crackdown on the student-led protest that toppled the regime.

“We have produced 13 defendants today, including 11 former ministers, a bureaucrat, and a judge,” Islam, the chief prosecutor of Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal, told reporters. “They are complicit in enabling massacres by participating in planning, inciting violence, ordering law enforcement officers to shoot on sight, and obstructing efforts to prevent a genocide.”

Hasina, who fled to New Delhi by helicopter on August 5, was also due in court in Dhaka on Monday to face charges of “massacres, killings, and crimes against humanity”, but she remained a fugitive in exile, with prosecutors repeating extradition demands for her.

Golam Mortuza Majumdar, the head judge of the three-member International Crimes Tribunal, set December 17 for investigators to finish their work. The deadline came after prosecutors sought more time for the investigation.

Hasina’s nearly 16-year tenure saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.

“The crimes that led to mass murders and genocide have occurred over the past 16 years across the country,” said Islam.

The tribunal’s chief prosecutor has already sought help from Interpol through the country’s police chief to arrest Hasina. India is a member of Interpol, but this does not mean New Delhi must hand Hasina over as each country applies their own laws on whether an arrest should be made.

On Sunday, interim leader and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus said his administration will seek her extradition from India – a request that could strain relations with a key regional ally, which maintained close ties with the removed leader throughout her time in power.

Yunus said as many as 3,500 people may have been abducted during Hasina’s “autocratic” rule.

Protests broke out across Bangladesh this summer after college students demanded the abolition of a controversial quota system in government jobs that they said favoured supporters of the governing party. Though Bangladesh’s top court scrapped the quota, the protests soon morphed into a wider call for Hasina’s removal from power.

The government’s response was one of the bloodiest chapters in Bangladesh’s history as security forces beat and fired tear gas and live ammunition on peaceful demonstrators, killing more than 1,000 people in three weeks and arresting thousands.

Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington recently spoke out about American politics and how people need to be aware of the ongoing manipulative tactics used by both parties. 

In an interview with The Sunday Times, editor Jonathan Dean quoted a line from “Gladiator II,” the upcoming Ridley Scott sequel that Washington stars in: “Empires fall, so do emperors.” Dean noted that the phrase felt relevant to the current political landscape after the election. “You know, it’s so easy to stand outside America and say this and that,” Washington said in response. “Turn around, you know? Pick a country. Any one.”

Washington continued, “It’s all politics. All promises unkept. And now with the information age the way it is — if anything — left, right, whatever had better learn how to use those tools to manipulate the people. There was a great line in the first movie I did, [1981’s] ‘Carbon Copy’: ‘Power to the people? Yeah, they had it once — it was called the Stone Age.’”

He added, “We’re all slaves to information now. We really are. We’re all slaves. So whatever you feel about the leaders, like this guy’s crazy or the other one is sane, you’d better realize you’re being manipulated by both sides. Period.” Washington ended the thought by saying, “Yeah. So go to the movies.”

Elsewhere in his interview with The Sunday Times, Washington reflected on his career and the failures and successes that came with it.

“After [1992’s] ‘Malcolm X’ I made some real clunkers. Look them up — I won’t say their names,” Washington said. “They are all in the 1990s. But I was earning. I had responsibilities.”

He also reflected on his acting career in the 2000s, when he worked films like 2000’s “The Hurricane” and 2001’s “Training Day” — the latter of which earned him his second Academy Award.

“So, 2000 …” he pondered. “Well, in life, you learn, earn and then you return — as in give back. So if your life is 90 years long, up until 30 you learn and from 30 to 60 you earn. So in that era I was earning. With a great agent, my career built into making money and so the earning kicked in and then life also kicked in, with bills, four kids and a house.”

President Biden is in Latin America for a farewell tour to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Peru and the G-20 summit in Brazil.

The Biden administration can do little about the future agenda of these institutions, Ariel González Levaggi, Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Fox News Digital.

Levaggi said much of what Biden will highlight at these summits will not be on the table for the incoming Trump administration. Because of the change of power, the G-20 will be “less politically relevant,” limiting Biden’s ability to make any commitments.

The president’s first stop is in Lima, Peru, where he will meet world leaders at the APEC summit, placing a heavy focus on the Indo-Pacific region. Biden’s next stop on Sunday will be in Brazil’s capital, Rio de Janeiro, where he will meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on the margins of the G-20 summit.

BIDEN, XI MEETING WILL BE FORUM FOR ‘INTENSE DIPLOMACY’ AMID TENSIONS BETWEEN US, CHINA: OFFICIALS

Biden is also expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the APEC summit on Saturday as China has expanded its economic footprint in Latin America, particularly in APEC host Peru. Xi watched along with Peruvian President Dina Boluarte for a ceremonial ribbon-cutting for the opening of the new Peruvian megaport of Chancay, a project financed by China to the tune of over $1 billion. The megaport’s symbolism highlights China’s growing investment and influence in Latin America.

China has become South America’s top trading partner, and trade between China and Latin America grew significantly between 2000 and 2020, increasing from $12 billion to $315 billion. Two-way trade is expected to double by 2035, reaching more than $700 billion, according to figures from the World Economic Forum.

President Biden waves as he walks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Filoli estate on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Woodside, California, on Nov. 15, 2023. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo)

Biden’s visits to APEC and the G-20, which will likely be his last appearances on the international stage in his 50-year political career, come in the shadow of former President Trump’s election victory and his return to the White House. The summits will focus on trade, security and global alliances, but there are unlikely to be any deliverables at the conclusion of each.

“Biden is playing a weak hand that just got weaker,” Mark Montgomery, retired Rear Admiral and Senior Fellow at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.

XI JINPING WARNS TRUMP US WOULD ‘LOSE FROM CONFRONTATION’ WITH CHINA AS RENEWED TRADE WAR LOOMS

“Biden has to contend with both Trump’s victory but also with Chinese President Xi’s ascendency in Latin America, especially given China’s predominant role as an economic partner of choice,” Montgomery added.

As Trump prepares for his second term, some leaders will have to contend with a more aggressive U.S. posture, including in the economic realm and international trade.

“China and the EU should expect higher U.S. tariffs in 2025,” Derek Scissors, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told Fox News Digital. He also said the tariffs could provide leverage for Trump in his second term.

GERMANY BRACES UNDER COLLAPSING GOVERNMENT AND LOOMING TRUMP TRADE WAR

China and other members of the G-20 will likely brace for a reboot of Trump’s “America First” policy, placing a heavy emphasis on higher tariffs. Trump famously launched a trade war with China in his first term in 2018, raising tariffs up to 25% on steel, aluminum and other Chinese-made products. China responded with reciprocal tariffs against the U.S. Trump promised to raise tariffs up to 60% on Chinese imports while running for president, although it’s unclear if he would actually go that high.

Leaders from the U.S., China, Brazil and elsewhere in Asia and the Americas are gathering at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru. (Manuel Orbegozo/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Traditional U.S. allies might not be exempt, either, from a second Trump administration tariff policy, where some nations could see up to a 20% increase in tariffs.