live from berlin trip extrajudicial killings carried out by bangladesh'police squad. how the rapid action battalion set up to find terrorism take the law into its own hands. also on the program, russian authorities blame ukraine for a bombing that killed a prominent pro-war logger.

a woman is arrested in a cafe in st. petersburg. donald trump returns to new york to face charges. he is expected to surrender to prosecutors over an alleged payment to an adult film actor. >> i am nicole. it to our viewers joining us in pbs in the united states and watching around the world, it's good to have you with us. a dw investigation has uncovered details of killings went to bangladesh'elite police force. the rapid action battalion was set up in 2004 as part of the u.s. led war on terror, trained and equipped by the u.s. and other western countries to find extremist violence. battalion has long faced accusations of human rights abuses, which the bangladesh government has repeatedly denied. working with sweden, dw's

investigative unit spoke with former rab commanders who revealed how he force commits extrajudicial killings. you may find elements of this report disturbing. >> the phone call you are about to hear captures an alleged murder in southern bangladesh. it was recorded in 2018 by ahser. she connected to her husband's phone only moments before he was killed. [screaming] >> earlier that day it had been taken by the unit of the bangladeshi police accused of murder, torture and killings. >> i want justice. how was my husband killed and why?

the recording continues for another 10 minutes. we hear sirens and calls to plant ammunition close to the dying man. more shots are fired. later, the official police report stated that they had died in a shootout between drug dealers. >> this audio is classic evidence of how an operation is staged. i did take part in extrajudicial killings and torture. >> torture. >> there one of two former commanders who are the first to speak up about the systemic human rights abuses. they describe how the elite squad has abducted, tortured and killed revealing their playbook for extrajudicial killings. >> in some cases, scenes are made up before hand, sometimes afterwards. but all the evidence is planted. >> there is nothing written

about it. no order is given in writing. >> four months dw and netra news investigated the battalion. it was originally founded to fight terrorism and crime in bangladesh. according to the whistleblowers, it is also used as a political tool to silence opponents of the government. >> engagement decision on any political target would come at the very least from the ministry of home affairs. >> it was a must to get clearance from home affairs. >> if the home affairs minister give such an order, it is vy unlikely the prime mister of bangladesh did not know about it. >> with no paper trail is hard to verify the claim but we corroborated the whistleblowers testimony with victims accounts, medical records, police reports, and data from human rights organizations. when confronted with our findings, bangladesh'prime

minister did not respond. the rab referred us to the ministry of internal affairs which denied all allegations as baseless and untrue. >> the bangladesh government keeps denying these abuses have occurred. these testimonies once again show the need to stop denying and start holding security forces accountable. >> in southern anglo -- they show us glasses that their husband wore when he was killed. she received them with his body. since then, she says officers have pressured her and her family to remain silent. >> he said just one thing, he said your husband has died and you could die at any moment. but she wants a proper investigation and says she will continue to speak up until those who killed her husband are held to account. >> earlier i spoke to michael, director of the south asia

institute at the wilson center. in light of the allegations, i asked him how likely it is that the authorities will take action against the rapid action battalion. >> well, that is true that for so many years there have been concerns expressed about what was going on with the rab and the fact that your documentary has brought out these accounts from whistleblowers clearly that is going to change the state of play. keep in mind as well that more than a year ago, the u.s. government sanctioned rab8 because of humanpm they were sanctioned that woke up the government to the need to do more to address these concerns. i would like to think that those sanctions more than a year ago combined with this new documentary will create a spark so to speak for this governments to do more, because clearly it

knows that the world is paying a lot of attention to what is going on with this entity. and bangladesh government is concerned about its image, its global image. anglo -- his image. in these new revelations do not improve that when it comes to these troubling things going on with preeminent security institutions. >> the united states and european union have provided support and training to rab despite the knowledge of extrajudicial killings. do they bear any responsibility here? >> well, you know, i think that one main reason why the u.s. and the european union have provided support to the rab is that it carries out functions that serve the interests of american and european countries. the rab, one of its major and initial functions is to serve as a counterterrorism of force. and certainly i know washington has a strong interest in

bangladesh that does not suffer from terrorist violence and terrorist risks. so i think they understand why -- >> sorry to jump in there, but it was conceived as a force to combat terrorism, but has it ever fulfilled this mission? >> well, i mean, if you look at the numbers, you had a time some years ago when bangladesh was hit with a wave of terrorist violence. that has receded to the rab's credit but the broader issue is that there are very troubling tactics that the rab has used over this year. -- over the years. that is where the problem lies and we can talk about this more, but there are indications that militancy may be making a comeback in bangladesh, which raises troubling questions. >> not only the means, but the fact that looks like they are targeting people who are clearly

not terrorists. bangladesh is in the midst of a geopolitical tug-of-war of sorts between washington and beijing, isn't it? in light of all of what we know now, how likely is it that the u.s. would stick to its sanctioning of human rights violations in bangladesh? >> i think it is very unlikely that the u.s. will and these sanctions anytime soon. i think that this administration in washington is very focused on this idea of promoting rights and democracy overseas. it is a big pillar of its foreign policy, so i think for the u.s. to ease up on these sanctions or remove them would send a message. it is essentially willing to give a pass to bangladesh that says you know that these concerns and allegations associated with rab play out against a broader backdrop of democratic backsliding crackdowns on the opposition. there's a lot of concern in washington that the next scheduled election early next year may not be free and fair.

the last few elections where widely viewed by international observers as not free or fair. so if the u.s. were to ease up on sanctions against the rab, it would send the wrong message, especially when the u.s. wants to send a message to bangladesh that it is looking for improvements across the board on democracy and rights. particularly the election do early next year. >> michael, director of the asian institute at the wilson center, thank you for your time. you can find more details of this investigation on inside the death squad on youtube on the dw documentary channel. make sure to check that out. moving on, germany's vice chancellor has joined below to mere zelenskyy on a visit to --volodymyr zelenskyy on a visit. 11 people died in the village north of kyiv. president zelenskyy says it is

important for ukraine's allies to see what russia has done. mr. habek talk to reporters about what he'd seen. >> the only thing you can hope for when you are directly confronted with the horror of war is that it will end at some point. but that does not mean that it should end just anyhow. an end at some point means as soon as possible. as for how it can end, the only way is that ukraine concludes this quarter, able to decisively determine the conditions for peace. what is important to me politically is that there can be no neutrality. that one must distinguish between the attacker and the attacked, between the perpetrator and the victim. in the cause of this or lies in the -- because of this war lies in the kremlin and the perpetrator is vladimir putin. >> he spent the day with vice chancellor and here is his summary. >> when the minister arrived in

kyiv, he said his visit was a symbol from germany to ukraine that their country would be rebuilt and in the end, they would be victorious. what this victory would exactly look like he would not further elaborate on, only that it was up to the ukrainians to decide. but he took the opportunity to renew his promise that germany would further support ukraine with military aid. another important part of his visit was economic cooperation between the two countries. they were accompanied by a delegation of represented tips from the german industry. together, they are trying to assess how to further help companies that are already operating in ukraine and create further incentives for future investments. >> russian authorities say ukraine was behind an explosion at a cafe in st. petersburg that killed a well-known pro-war blogger. kremlin described the blast as a terrorist attack carried out by

ukrainian secret services. kyiv denies involvement and has blamed russian domestic terrorism. the woman at moscow has links with antiwar rallies has been arrested. >> in this footage posted online,vladeline is seen joking with the crowd as he inspects the gift. a short while later, the 40-year-old pro-war blogger will be dead, killed by a bomb russian media claims was hidden inside the bust. russian bloggers are sharing this unverified footage, claiming to show the moment of the deadly explosion. which is now being treated as an act of terrorism by the kremlin. >> this, a helmet, they put it back there without a second thought and he carried on with his questions. then suddenly, everything

exploded and there was smoke. it was a slow motion movie. we were sitting in the back half of the hall, everyone started to run and we needed to run, so we ran. those who were near had blood all over them of course. >> tatarsky was a prominent backer of russia's invasion of ukraine, thumbing himself the grand kremlin palace, celebrating russia's annexation of ukraine's occupied regions. we will beat everyone, we will kill everyone, he says in this defiant tirade that went viral, helping to build his popularity among the pro-war russian and nationalist. who may be behind his death are ordered the attack is now the subject of much speculation in russia. the cctv pictures being widely shared on russian online channels appearing to show someone carrying a package into

the cafe before the blast. and according to russia's interior ministry, the 26-year-old local woman arrested over the incident has now confessed, claiming in a video to have planted the bomb but without providing a motive. the kremlin says it was orchestrated by ukraine at with the help of a russian opposition group but without providing any evidence. but that view is not shared by everyone, including the head of the russian wagoner mercenary groups --wagner mercenary group who owns the cafe where the blast took place. seen here paying tribute to tata rsky, suggesting that domestic radical groups are responsible for the bloggers death and not the kyiv government. as investigators try to establish a motive for the attack, that is a claim that is unlikely to go down well within

the kremlin, which is doing all that it can to paint a picture of domestic harmony over its special operation in ukraine. >> let's take a look at some of the other stories making news around the world today. the head of russia's mercenary wagner group claims troops have captured the main building in the ukrainian city of bakhmut. keith says it's forces are still --kyiv says its forces are holding up your german chancellor olaf scholz, assured bucharest of their support as part of the european family. they have seen huge numbers of refugees arrived since the invasion. nato secretary general says finland will join the alliance on tuesday. this will bring the number of nato member states to 31,

neighboring sweden's membership bid has been stalled by objections from hungary and turkey. former u.s. president donald trump has arrived in new york city to face criminal charges. he landed at laguardia airport in his private jet. he is set to spend the night at trump tower before surrendering to authorities on tuesday. he is accused of trying to cover up an alleged payment of hush money to an adult film actor just before the 2016 residential election. his support has surged since become the first former president to be indicted. where joined by ennis pool. city officials have been preparing for protests. what is the mood like? >> actually, donald trump must be very disappointed because 50 or so of his supporters to trump tower, i think it is fair to say

there are more reporters from around the world to cover this event then his supporters. there are some who say lock him up and some are in support of the indictment. >> lots of media attention. we are in uncharted waters. trump will be headed to the manhattan criminal court tomorrow afternoon could what do we expect to see when he officially surrenders to prosecutors? >> writes, this is really a first. i mean, we have seen many first with donald trump, but this is unprecedented as you just said in the history of the united states. this is never, ever happened that a president or former president is indicted with criminal charges. around 2:15 or so, he will officially surrender. as everyone else who is booked for felony charges, he will go to the court.

his fingerprints will be taken, photographs will be taken. it is up to the prosecutors to decide if he has to use handcuffs as well. the charges are not violent, he will be able to leave the courthouse in the evening without paying any bail and he is expected to travel to florida where he announced already that he will address the public around 8:00 a.m. local time to spread his version of the day tomorrow. >> how big of a deal is this really in the united states? we know this is never happened before. >> i saw it as always. depends on who you ask. it is unprecedented, that is true. but many americans are concerned about gas prices, rent, food, which is still extremely expensive due to inflation. but definitely those who follow

politics more closely, they see that as a very huge moment in the history of the united states. and if you talk to those who do support donald trump, they are very critical about what is going to happen tomorrow, saying this is really un-american. >> this indictment is hugely divisive. we do not have much time, but i want to know how you think this is going to affect his chances for reelection? >> you know, as for now, the polls say this is good for donald trump, because many of his supporters are getting kind of fired up with that. the ranks are closing behind him and even on the others, the democratic side, experts say maybe this is not really the right case to play so big. so at the very moment this might rather help donald trump. >> reporting live from york city, thank you.

a war crimes trial related to kosovo's fight for independence from serbia in the late 1990's has opened in the hague. former kosovo president has pleaded not guilty. they and three others are accused of murder and torture. the victims families have been waiting for justice for more than two decades, but the trial with more than 300 witnesses is unlikely to deliver a quick verdict. -- is the dw correspondent covering today's events in the hague and i asked her to explain a little bit about what happened. >> they say the day started with four accused men repeating what they said before, that they are not guilty of the charges. then the prosecution was laying out the charges brought against the men. these are heavy charges, such as crimes against humanity and war crimes.

all of the men have been that leading figures in the kosovo liberation army and they have supposedly been orchestrating difference of these crimes, such as torture, murder, and also unlawful detainment. we have heard numbers of the prosecution, they've been talking of murders and 440 detainment. they want to prove in the next week, months or years. we heard from the victims counsel and then the day was already over. so we will have to stay tuned. >> lots going on this first day, he is being tried under kosovo law though in the netherlands. why is that? >> yes, so this is what lawyers call a hybrid cord. this goes back to 2015 when kosovo law established this court. the reason for the established

nest was international pressure. back then, there had been the thought that it might be very difficult to have these trials in kosovo, because the people who are being accused were still also in power in kosovo. so it was a very different, a very difficult situation to seek for justice or to have these trials there. there have also been issues about witnesses that have been intimidated. >> the crimes that these men are on trial for happened more than 20 years ago. what took so long? >> yes, i have already alluded a bit to that, so the men that are being accused right now were back then that members of the kosovo liberation army, but then later, they have been in power in kosovo. so there has been a certain -- it has been described as a climate of fear and people have not been very willing to come out and be witnesses against these men or like other trials,

against kosovo liberation army. it is maybe also important to see that maybe today, for a lot of people, and some of these people also came to the hague, he is a hero and not a war criminal. >> shelton in the hague on the first of what promises to be many days of trials there in the hague. thank you so much. the german football association have extended their contract with coach mattino, months before the women's world cup in new zealand. they've been in charge of the national team since 2018. she led them to the 2022 final when they lost against england. her new contract runs until 2025. nasa has named a 4 strong crew

for its artemis spaceflight. they include the first female and first african american astronaut to take part in a lunar mission. and it will be the first crewed voyage to the moon in more than half a century. >> artemis 2 crew. >> this is a very different lineup to the crew that took part in the apollo landings. >> there is a lot of may political twisting on this, but you've got an unusual crew, given that the last time we sent people to the moon was three white american pilots. male. >> this crew will be the first to flight nasa's newly built spacecraft as early as next year. the artemis 2 mission will not land or even going to lunar orbit. instead it will fly around the

moon and head back to earth. >> this is the artemis 2 mission. the artemis three mission will land. this is the first time we've sent a crew back around the moon it not only in 50 years, but also in this spacecraft. so the idea is to test pre-much every thing except the actual landing. there is a precedent, we did this during the apollo program, but now we build spacecraft more efficiently, so we do not have to do is many flights before he actually land. >> this time the u.s. space agency hopes to establish a lasting human presence on the lunar surface. >> here's a quick reminder of the top stories were following today. a dw investigation with netra news from sweden has uncovered details of killings linked to bangladesh'elite police force. dw's investigative unit together with its sweden based partners,

spoke to insiders before the first time revealed evidence of exactly how the rapid action battalion is alleged to have committed extrajudicial killings. and russian authorities have confirmed that a woman has been arrested in connection to an explosion in st. petersburg. the suspect took part in antiwar gatherings. and that is our time for now, but stay tuned. after the break, i will be back to take you through the day. i hope to see you there.

■■÷

anchor: the time is 10:00 p.m.. here are our latest headlines. donald trump flies from florida to new york to face criminal charges. the story day in u.s. politics area we will be speaking shortly to our correspondent. the