🔗 Share this article

Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for atrocities due to her harsh response on youth demonstrations which resulted in her removal from power.

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

The trial proceeded while she was absent by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. The former leader rejected every accusation, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The decision signifies a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had called for strict sentences.

Responding to the decision in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the capital punishment was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was proud of her government's record on human rights.

"I have no trepidation to confront those accusing me in a proper tribunal where the facts can be assessed and reviewed impartially."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under enhanced protection prior to the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and celebrating as the judgment was announced.

The city has seen a sudden increase in turmoil, with multiple explosives detonated and coaches ignited in the period preceding the verdict.

One explosive incident was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, regional security representative Jisanul Haque informed news organizations.

The student-led uprising in the previous year began with demands to abolish government job quotas but transformed into a broader opposition campaign.

International human rights monitors stated in a document in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could represent "violations of human dignity".

The report documented the firing at close quarters of certain demonstrators, the intentional injuring of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Disclosed sound files of a telephone conversation involving Hasina verified by investigative sources in previous months implied she had sanctioned the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the legal process.

Prior to the ruling, family members of those fatally injured in the unrest stated to news agencies they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

Ramjan Ali, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for the former leader and associates who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and exploited their positions".

A different family member, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "implemented before the election".

"Solely at that point the families of those killed [in the protests] will find peace in their souls."

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

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

The former leader cautioned during the past month that if the her faction's nominees were banned from standing in the imminent electoral process, millions would boycott the election.

The verdict now poses a international dilemma for the neighboring countries. Authorities have sought her extradition but until now India has demonstrated no inclination to acquiesce.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer her legal counsel said he was "unhappy and desiring the verdict had been different".

"I am unable to challenge because my clients are absent; for that reason I am disappointed," he added.

Recently, her legal team said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN pointing out significant due process and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her former home minister and police chief.

While the sentence provides certain resolution to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the country's political divisions.

"The fury directed at Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to press agencies. "Neither she nor the party has said sorry or shown any remorse for the deaths of numerous individuals."

She said "This creates challenges 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 fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We assist multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They will never be able to forgive her."

An analyst, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it particularly hard" for the political faction to become a standard element of the country's governance system again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from the former leader and the old leadership," he said.