🔗 Share this article

Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity stemming from her severe measures on youth demonstrations which caused her removal from power.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the unrest in the previous year.

The trial proceeded without her presence 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 behind numerous deaths during the protests. Hasina has denied the entire case, labeling the proceedings as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The verdict marks a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over years of repression. Families of those killed and injured had demanded severe punishments.

Responding to the decision in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the death penalty was the temporary leadership's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was content of her government's record on individual freedoms.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a fair court where the proof can be evaluated and examined justly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under increased safeguards ahead of the decision on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally and celebrating as the judgment was announced.

Dhaka experienced a recent spike in turmoil, with dozens of bombs exploded and coaches ignited in the time before the verdict.

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

The protest movement led by students in the previous year started with calls to eliminate state employment quotas but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

UN human rights investigators declared in an analysis in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could amount to "crimes against humanity".

The study recorded the firing at close quarters of a number of activists, the intentional injuring of others, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of a call made by the former leader confirmed by investigative sources in previous months implied she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

Before the decision, kin of those who died in the demonstrations stated to media representatives they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

One relative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for the former leader and associates who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

Lucky Akther, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "executed before the election".

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

Since Hasina's ousting, an interim government under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

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

The former leader cautioned during the past month that if the the League's representatives were banned from standing in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the vote.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Authorities have sought her return but to date India has shown no willingness to agree.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer the defense lawyer said he was "disappointed and hoping the outcome had varied".

"I even cannot appeal because my defendants are not present; for that reason I am disappointed," he added.

The previous week, Hasina's lawyers said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN highlighting major judicial fairness and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Hasina was tried together with her previous domestic affairs official and security forces head.

Although the punishment provides certain resolution to families of killed in the protests, it may do little to soothe the country's political divisions.

"The anger against the former leader and the Awami League has not diminished," a human rights advocate from the capital stated to press agencies. "The leader and her faction has apologised or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

The advocate declared "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a majority of people in this state."

The campaigner further stated that the sentence was not resolution for the relatives of those who died and were wounded.

"We assist multiple individuals who suffered permanent amputations, they are currently without limbs, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it particularly hard" for Awami League to become a standard element of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "there is some kind of apology and a distancing from the former leader and the previous administration," he said.