🔗 Share this article

Bangladesh's former prime minister has been given a death sentence for atrocities stemming from her harsh response on student-led protests which caused her removal from power.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against activists, 1,400 of whom were killed during the unrest in the previous year.

Hasina was tried in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being behind numerous deaths during the protests. Hasina has denied all charges, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Families of those killed and harmed had called for tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, she expressed the execution sentence was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a governing body and that she was satisfied of her government's record on individual freedoms.

"I do not fear to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the facts can be assessed and tested fairly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under increased safeguards ahead of the ruling on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina organizing a demonstration and applauding as the sentence was declared.

Dhaka experienced a sudden increase in unrest, with dozens of bombs exploded and buses set on fire in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, regional security representative Jisanul Haque told press agencies.

The youth-driven revolt last year commenced through 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 represent "crimes against humanity".

The paper detailed the shooting at point-blank range of some protesters, the purposeful disabling of others, unwarranted detentions and torture.

Disclosed sound files of a call made by the former leader confirmed by external reviews during the current year suggested she had approved the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

Before the decision, family members of those fatally injured in the unrest stated to press outlets they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

One relative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for Hasina and others who have "committed acts of vengeance and exploited their positions".

Another relative, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "implemented before the election".

"Only then the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their souls."

Since Hasina's ousting, an interim government headed by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A national vote is scheduled for February 2026.

However, the her former political organization, the former ruling party, was banned by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

Hasina warned last month that if the party's candidates were banned from standing in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the ballot.

The judgment creates a diplomatic challenge for India and Bangladesh. Authorities have sought her extradition but so far India has expressed no readiness to agree.

The legal representative assigned to her Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "disappointed and hoping the verdict had been different".

"I even cannot appeal because my represented individuals are away; for that reason I am sad," he stated further.

Recently, the defense attorneys said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN pointing out serious fair trial and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina together with her former home minister and police chief.

Although the punishment offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may do little to soothe the country's political divisions.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed news organizations. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or demonstrated contrition for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The advocate declared "It makes it difficult for the organization to receive endorsement by a most citizens in this state."

The campaigner further stated that the punishment 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, as a result of the harsh measures. 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 even more difficult" for the political faction to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

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