🔗 Share this article

Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity due to her crackdown on protests led by students which caused her removal from power.

Hasina was declared culpable of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom were killed during the turmoil last year.

Hasina was tried in absentia by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of hundreds of killings during the protests. She has refuted every accusation, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Families of those killed and harmed had demanded tough penalties.

Answering the judgment in a detailed document, the former leader stated the execution sentence was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was content of her leadership's history on human rights.

"I do not fear to confront those accusing me in a proper tribunal where the facts can be assessed and examined justly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under enhanced protection before the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics organizing a demonstration and applauding as the verdict was read.

The capital witnessed a notable rise in disturbances, with dozens of bombs exploded and coaches ignited in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, regional security representative Jisanul Haque told news organizations.

The protest movement led by students in the previous year began with demands to abolish state employment quotas but evolved into a more extensive dissent initiative.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could represent "crimes against humanity".

The study recorded the firing at close quarters of some protesters, the intentional injuring of additional individuals, arbitrary arrests and abuse.

Leaked audio of one of Hasina's phone calls verified by external reviews during the current year implied she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the trial.

Ahead of the verdict, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations told news agencies they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for the former leader and associates who have "committed acts of vengeance and exploited their positions".

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

"Exclusively thereafter the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will find peace in their souls."

Since Hasina's ousting, an temporary leadership led by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A general election is set for February 2026.

However, the Hasina's political party, Hasina's political party, was banned by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

The former leader cautioned in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the ballot.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but until now India has shown no willingness to agree.

Her officially designated attorney Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the decision had been otherwise".

"I even cannot appeal because my represented individuals are away; for that reason I am disappointed," he added.

Last week, the defense attorneys said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising major judicial fairness and judicial process problems at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial alongside her ex-interior minister and security forces head.

While the sentence grants partial finality to families of killed in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the nation's partisan rifts.

"The resentment towards the former leader and the Awami League has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has apologised or displayed repentance for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "This creates challenges for the faction to gain approval by a majority of people in this country."

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

"We work with several people who lost their limbs forever, they are currently without limbs, due to the crackdown. They cannot pardon 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 Bangladeshi politics again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with Hasina and the old leadership," he expressed.