Doctor testifies to being pressured to alter Abu Sayed’s autopsy report

Dr. Rajibul Islam, the forensic expert who conducted the autopsy on Abu Sayed, the first student killed by police during last year’s quota reform movement, told the International Crimes Tribunal today that he was pressured to change his findings.

The assistant professor and head of the forensic department at Rangpur Medical College testified during the seventh day of hearings against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and two others.

Dr. Rajibul said he initially recorded multiple pellets in Abu Sayed’s body and concluded the cause of death was homicide by gunfire. However, after submitting his report to investigators, he was asked to rewrite it multiple times.

He testified that senior officials, including the medical college vice-principal, police officers, and intelligence agents, pressured him to alter the report. They threatened legal action and even offered foreign trips to Singapore or Thailand as incentives.

The authorities wanted the report to state that Abu Sayed died from a head injury instead of gunfire, but Dr. Rajibul refused to comply, citing public knowledge and evidence.

After repeated rejections, he submitted a final report omitting direct reference to gunfire but still indicating pellets and a homicidal cause of death.

Dr. Rajibul also shared a video interview he gave to Al Jazeera, which was played during the tribunal proceedings.

Abu Sayed, a student at Begum Rokeya University, was killed on 16 July last year during protests demanding quota reform. The tribunal is investigating crimes against humanity linked to the movement, with charges against Sheikh Hasina, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun.