🔗 Share this article

Bangladesh's former prime minister has been given a death sentence for crimes against humanity over her severe measures on protests led by students which caused her removal from power.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of authorizing deadly measures to be used against demonstrators, 1,400 of whom lost their lives during the unrest in the previous year.

Hasina was tried while she was absent by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being responsible for numerous deaths during the protests. Hasina has denied the entire case, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The verdict marks a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Relatives of the deceased and wounded had called for strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the death penalty was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was content of her government's record on human rights.

"I have no trepidation to confront those accusing me in a proper tribunal where the proof can be evaluated and examined justly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under tightened security prior to the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and celebrating as the sentence was declared.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in turmoil, with numerous incendiary devices set off and coaches ignited in the time before the verdict.

One explosive incident was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official the police spokesperson stated to press agencies.

The youth-driven revolt during 2024 began with requests to remove public sector reservation policies but transformed into a broader opposition campaign.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis 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 purposeful disabling of further participants, arbitrary arrests and abuse.

Unauthorized recordings of a call made by the former leader confirmed by external reviews during the current year suggested she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

Before the decision, family members of those fatally injured in the unrest informed press outlets they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

One relative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and exploited their positions".

A different family member, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "carried out before the election".

"Only then the families of those killed [in the protests] will obtain solace in their hearts."

Following her removal, an temporary leadership led by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A parliamentary election is set for February 2026.

However, the her former political organization, her political faction, was prohibited by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

Hasina warned last month that if the her faction's nominees were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the election.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her repatriation but until now India has expressed no readiness to comply.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the outcome had varied".

"I am unable to challenge because my defendants are not present; that's why I am disheartened," he stated further.

Last week, her legal team said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN pointing out serious fair trial and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Hasina was tried in conjunction with her previous domestic affairs official and police chief.

Although the punishment offers some closure to families of killed in the protests, it may not significantly ease the country's political divisions.

"The anger against Hasina and the her political party has not subsided," a Dhaka-based rights activist told media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has said sorry or demonstrated contrition for the killings of hundreds of people."

The advocate declared "This creates challenges for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this country."

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

"We assist multiple individuals who lost their limbs forever, they are currently without limbs, because of the suppression. They are incapable of excusing her."

David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it increasingly challenging" for her party to become a normal feature of the nation's political landscape again.

This might transform if "an expression of regret occurs and a separation from Sheikh Hasina and the previous administration," he stated.