🔗 Share this article

Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity stemming from her crackdown on protests led by students which resulted in her removal from power.

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against demonstrators, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the disturbances in the previous year.

The trial proceeded while she was absent by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being responsible for numerous deaths during the protests. Hasina has denied all charges, describing the process as "biased and politically motivated".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Relatives of the deceased and harmed had demanded strict sentences.

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, the former leader stated the death penalty was the caretaker administration's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a political force and that she was content of her government's record on individual freedoms.

"I have no trepidation to confront those accusing me in a fair court where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under tightened security prior to the ruling on Monday, with several of her detractors holding a protest and cheering as the judgment was announced.

The city has seen a recent spike in turmoil, with dozens of bombs exploded and coaches ignited in the time before the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, regional security representative the authorities' representative informed press agencies.

The youth-driven revolt during 2024 began with demands to abolish state employment quotas but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

UN human rights investigators said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could represent "violations of human dignity".

The report documented the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, arbitrary arrests and abuse.

Leaked audio of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by media examinations earlier this year suggested she had sanctioned the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

Ahead of the verdict, relatives of those fatally injured in the unrest informed news agencies they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

A family representative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for Hasina and others who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

Lucky Akther, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "executed before the election".

"Only then the families of those killed [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

Since Hasina's ousting, an temporary leadership led by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

However, the Hasina's political party, the former ruling party, was banned by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

Hasina warned last month that if the her faction's nominees were prohibited from running in the upcoming election, millions would boycott the vote.

The verdict now poses a diplomatic challenge for the neighboring countries. Authorities have sought her extradition but until now India has shown no willingness to agree.

Her officially designated attorney the defense lawyer said he was "sad [and wishes] the decision had been otherwise".

"I cannot even contest because my represented individuals are away; which is why I am disappointed," he stated further.

Last week, the defense attorneys said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN raising significant due process and judicial process problems at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial together with her former home minister and security forces head.

While the sentence grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may not significantly ease the nation's partisan rifts.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed news organizations. "Neither she nor the party has apologised or displayed repentance for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "This creates challenges for the faction to gain approval by a most citizens in this nation."

The advocate continued that the penalty was not resolution for the kin of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We support several people who suffered permanent amputations, they are currently without limbs, due to the crackdown. They cannot pardon her."

A journalist, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it particularly hard" for her party to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This could alter if "there is some kind of apology and a separation from Sheikh Hasina and the old leadership," he expressed.