🔗 Share this article

Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for atrocities due to her harsh response on youth demonstrations which led to her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against activists, with approximately 1,400 individuals were killed during the disturbances in the previous year.

The trial proceeded in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being responsible for multiple fatalities during the protests. She has refuted all charges, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The verdict marks a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Relatives of the deceased and wounded had requested strict sentences.

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, the former leader stated the death penalty was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" 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 just legal forum where the facts can be assessed and reviewed impartially."

The capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under tightened security ahead of the ruling on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally and applauding as the judgment was announced.

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

One explosive incident was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police official Jisanul Haque told media outlets.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 started with calls to eliminate state employment quotas but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

UN human rights investigators said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could amount to "crimes against humanity".

The paper detailed the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, unwarranted detentions and mistreatment.

Leaked audio of one of Hasina's phone calls confirmed by external reviews earlier this year suggested she had approved the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the trial.

Ahead of the verdict, family members of those who died in the demonstrations informed media representatives they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

A family representative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for Hasina and others who have "performed revengeful deeds and exploited their positions".

Another relative, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "carried out before the election".

"Only then the kin of victims [in the protests] will find peace in their minds."

After her departure, an temporary leadership headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A national vote is scheduled for February 2026.

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

Hasina warned last month that if the the League's representatives were banned from standing in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the vote.

The judgment creates a international dilemma for both nations. Authorities have sought her repatriation but until now India has demonstrated no inclination to acquiesce.

The legal representative assigned to her Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "sad [and wishes] the verdict had been different".

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; for that reason I am disappointed," he stated further.

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

Hasina was tried together with her former home minister and security forces head.

Although the punishment offers some closure to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the state's ideological splits.

"The resentment towards Sheikh Hasina and the her political party has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told news organizations. "Both she and the organization has expressed regret or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."

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

The campaigner further stated that the penalty was not finality for the kin of those who died and were wounded.

"We assist multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it even more difficult" for the political faction to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This might transform if "an expression of regret occurs and a disassociation with the former leader and the former hierarchy," he stated.