🔗 Share this article

The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for crimes against humanity stemming from her severe measures on student-led protests which caused her removal from power.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against demonstrators, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the turmoil during 2024.

Hasina was tried while she was absent by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being responsible for multiple fatalities during the protests. Hasina has denied every accusation, describing the process as "biased and politically motivated".

The verdict marks a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over long-standing suppression. Families of those killed and wounded had called for strict sentences.

Responding to the decision in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the execution sentence was the temporary leadership's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a political force and that she was satisfied of her leadership's history on civil liberties.

"I am not afraid to confront those accusing me in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security prior to the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics organizing a demonstration and cheering as the sentence was declared.

The capital witnessed a notable rise in disturbances, with dozens of bombs exploded and coaches ignited in the days leading up to the verdict.

One explosive incident was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, regional security representative Jisanul Haque told news organizations.

The student-led uprising in the previous year began with requests to remove state employment quotas but transformed into a wider anti-government movement.

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

The report documented the gunfire from minimal distance of some protesters, the deliberate maiming of others, unwarranted detentions and abuse.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls confirmed by investigative sources in previous months suggested she had authorized the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

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

Ramjan Ali, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

Lucky Akther, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "executed before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

After her departure, an interim government led by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A parliamentary election is set for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the her former political organization, the former ruling party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

The former leader cautioned in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were barred from participating in the imminent electoral process, millions would boycott the ballot.

The judgment creates a international dilemma for the neighboring countries. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but until now India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

The legal representative assigned to her the defense lawyer said he was "disappointed and hoping the decision had been otherwise".

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

The previous week, her legal team said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN pointing out major judicial fairness and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial alongside her former home minister and security forces head.

Even though the verdict provides certain resolution to kin of victims in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the country's political divisions.

"The anger against Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has apologised or shown any remorse for the deaths of numerous individuals."

She said "It makes it difficult for the organization to receive endorsement by a majority of people in this nation."

The activist added that the penalty was not finality for the kin of those killed and injured.

"We work with numerous persons who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, because of the suppression. They are incapable of excusing her."

David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it increasingly challenging" for the political faction to become a standard element of the country's governance system again.

This might transform if "there is some kind of apology and a disassociation with Hasina and the former hierarchy," he expressed.