🔗 Share this article

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

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against demonstrators, among whom around 1,400 people died during the unrest during 2024.

Legal proceedings were conducted while she was absent by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

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

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over long-standing suppression. Relatives of the deceased and harmed had called for strict sentences.

Responding to the decision in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the execution sentence was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a governing body and that she was satisfied of her administration's performance on civil liberties.

"I have no trepidation to meet my challengers in a proper tribunal where the proof can be evaluated and examined justly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under increased safeguards prior to the verdict on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina holding a protest and cheering as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a recent spike in unrest, with numerous incendiary devices set off and public transport vehicles burned in the days leading up to the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, area law enforcement officer Jisanul Haque informed press agencies.

The student-led uprising during 2024 commenced through requests to remove government job quotas but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

United Nations rights examiners said in a report in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could amount to "human rights atrocities".

The paper detailed the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the intentional injuring of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina confirmed by media examinations in previous months suggested she had authorized the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the trial.

Before the decision, relatives of those killed during the protests stated to media representatives they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

A family representative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for her and co-accused who have "performed revengeful deeds and misused their authority".

Another relative, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "carried out before the election".

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

Following her removal, an interim government led by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Hasina's political party, the former ruling party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

The former leader cautioned last month that if the party's candidates were banned from standing in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the ballot.

The verdict now poses a diplomatic challenge for both nations. Authorities have sought her repatriation but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "disappointed and hoping the verdict had been different".

"I cannot even contest because my clients are absent; which is why I am sad," he stated further.

Last week, the defense attorneys said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN highlighting serious fair trial and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Hasina was tried in conjunction with her ex-interior minister and security forces head.

While the sentence grants partial finality to families of killed in the protests, it may do little to soothe the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not decreased," a Dhaka-based rights activist informed press agencies. "Both she and the organization has apologised or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

The advocate declared "This creates challenges for the organization to receive endorsement by a majority of people in this state."

The campaigner further stated that the punishment was not resolution for the relatives of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We assist several people who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are currently without limbs, due to the crackdown. They are incapable of excusing her."

A journalist, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it increasingly challenging" for Awami League to become a regular participant of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with the former leader and the previous administration," he expressed.