🔗 Share this article

The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been given a death sentence for atrocities due to her crackdown on protests led by students which caused her removal from power.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people died during the turmoil last year.

Legal proceedings were conducted in absentia by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being responsible for numerous deaths during the protests. Hasina has denied every accusation, labeling the proceedings as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Next of kin of victims and injured had requested tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the execution sentence was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was satisfied of her administration's performance on individual freedoms.

"I have no trepidation to meet my challengers in a proper tribunal where the facts can be assessed and tested fairly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under enhanced protection before the ruling on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina holding a protest and applauding as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a recent spike in disturbances, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the days leading up to the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, regional security representative the police spokesperson told media outlets.

The student-led uprising in the previous year started with demands to abolish government job quotas but evolved into a broader opposition campaign.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could represent "crimes against humanity".

The study recorded the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Leaked audio of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by investigative sources in previous months suggested she had sanctioned the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the trial.

Before the decision, relatives of those fatally injured in the unrest told media representatives they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

Ramjan Ali, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for the former leader and associates who have "performed revengeful deeds and abused their power".

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

"Only then the kin of victims [in the protests] will find peace in their minds."

After her departure, an interim government led by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A parliamentary election is scheduled for February 2026.

However, the Awami League, her political faction, was outlawed by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

Hasina warned during the past month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the upcoming election, millions would boycott the election.

This decision presents a international dilemma for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but so far India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "sad [and wishes] the outcome had varied".

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; that's why I am sad," he continued.

The previous week, Hasina's lawyers said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN raising significant due process and due process issues at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina together with her ex-interior minister and top law enforcement officer.

While the sentence grants partial finality to kin of victims in the protests, it may do little to soothe the nation's partisan rifts.

"The resentment towards the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not subsided," a human rights advocate from the capital informed media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has expressed regret or demonstrated contrition for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "This complicates matters for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this state."

The activist added that the penalty was not finality for the families of those who died and were wounded.

"We work with numerous persons who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

A journalist, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it even more difficult" for her party to become a standard element of Bangladeshi politics again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the old leadership," he expressed.