🔗 Share this article

The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for atrocities due to her crackdown on student-led protests which resulted in her ousting.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of allowing lethal force to be used against demonstrators, with approximately 1,400 individuals died during the turmoil in the previous year.

The trial proceeded in absentia by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being the mastermind of hundreds of killings during the protests. The former leader rejected every accusation, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had requested strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, the former leader stated the execution sentence was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was proud of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I am not afraid to meet my challengers in a proper tribunal where the proof can be evaluated and reviewed impartially."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under enhanced protection ahead of the ruling on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina holding a protest and cheering as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a sudden increase in turmoil, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the time before the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police official the police spokesperson informed news organizations.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 began with requests to remove government job quotas but evolved into a more extensive dissent initiative.

UN human rights investigators declared in an analysis in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could amount to "human rights atrocities".

The study recorded the shooting at point-blank range of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of others, unwarranted detentions and abuse.

Unauthorized recordings of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by investigative sources earlier this year suggested she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the proceedings.

Before the decision, family members of those killed during the protests informed news agencies they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

One relative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for her and co-accused who have "performed revengeful deeds and misused their authority".

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

"Only then the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will find peace in their minds."

Following her removal, an temporary leadership headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Awami League, Hasina's political party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

The former leader cautioned in the previous month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the upcoming election, numerous would avoid the election.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but to date India has shown no willingness to acquiesce.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer the defense lawyer said he was "unhappy and desiring the decision had been otherwise".

"I am unable to challenge because my represented individuals are away; which is why I am sad," he stated further.

Recently, the defense attorneys said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN raising major judicial fairness and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial in conjunction with her ex-interior minister and security forces head.

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the country's political divisions.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed news organizations. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "It makes it difficult for the faction to gain approval by a most citizens in this state."

The campaigner further stated that the penalty was not resolution for the relatives of those killed and injured.

"We work with several people who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, as a result of the harsh measures. They are incapable of excusing her."

An analyst, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it even more difficult" for the political faction to become a standard element of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "an expression of regret occurs and a disassociation with Hasina and the previous administration," he said.