🔗 Share this article

The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for human rights violations due to her crackdown on student-led protests which caused her removal from power.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people lost their lives during the disturbances in the previous year.

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

The prosecution alleged of being responsible for hundreds of killings during the protests. She has refuted all charges, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The decision signifies a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had called for tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, she expressed the capital punishment was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was proud of her leadership's history on human rights.

"I am not afraid to confront those accusing me in a proper tribunal where the proof can be evaluated and tested fairly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security ahead of the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and applauding as the judgment was announced.

The city has seen a sudden increase in unrest, with dozens of bombs exploded and coaches ignited in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, regional security representative Jisanul Haque informed news organizations.

The protest movement led by students last year commenced through calls to eliminate state employment quotas but transformed into a wider anti-government movement.

International human rights monitors declared in an analysis in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could constitute "violations of human dignity".

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of some protesters, the intentional injuring of additional individuals, unwarranted detentions and mistreatment.

Unauthorized recordings of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by external reviews earlier this year implied she had authorized the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

Ahead of the verdict, kin of those who died in the demonstrations told press outlets they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

Ramjan Ali, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for her and co-accused who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

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

"Only then the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will obtain solace in their hearts."

After her departure, an temporary leadership under the guidance of economist Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Hasina's political party, Hasina's political party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

She alerted last month that if the party's candidates were prohibited from running in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the ballot.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Authorities have sought her repatriation but until now India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

The legal representative assigned to her her legal counsel said he was "disappointed and hoping the verdict had been different".

"I cannot even contest because my defendants are not present; for that reason I am disappointed," he stated further.

The previous week, Hasina's lawyers said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN highlighting serious fair trial and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina together with her ex-interior minister and top law enforcement officer.

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

"The anger against Sheikh Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has apologised or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

The activist stated "This complicates matters for the faction to gain approval by a bulk of the population in this country."

The advocate continued that the penalty was not resolution for the relatives of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We assist numerous persons who suffered permanent amputations, they are currently without limbs, because of the suppression. They will never be able to forgive her."

David Bergman, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it even more difficult" for her party to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This might transform if "there is some kind of apology and a distancing from the former leader and the former hierarchy," he stated.