🔗 Share this article

The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for human rights violations due to her crackdown on youth demonstrations which caused her ousting.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people lost their lives during the disturbances during 2024.

Hasina was tried without her presence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being behind numerous deaths during the protests. She has refuted the entire case, labeling the proceedings as "biased and politically motivated".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over long-standing suppression. Relatives of the deceased and injured had requested tough penalties.

Answering the judgment in a detailed document, the former leader stated the capital punishment was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was proud of her leadership's history on civil liberties.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a fair court where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under tightened security prior to the ruling on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and applauding as the verdict was read.

The city has seen a sudden increase in turmoil, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the time before the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, area law enforcement officer Jisanul Haque told media outlets.

The student-led uprising in the previous year started with calls to eliminate government job quotas but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

International human rights monitors declared in an analysis in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could represent "human rights atrocities".

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina verified by media examinations earlier this year suggested she had authorized the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the proceedings.

Before the decision, relatives of those killed during the protests told news agencies they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

A family representative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for Hasina and others who have "performed revengeful deeds and misused their authority".

Another relative, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "executed before the election".

"Solely at that point the kin of victims [in the protests] will obtain solace in their hearts."

After her departure, an temporary leadership under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A national vote is set for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Awami League, her political faction, was outlawed by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

The former leader cautioned in the previous month that if the party's candidates were prohibited from running in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the vote.

The judgment creates a international dilemma for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but so far India has shown no willingness to agree.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer her legal counsel said he was "disappointed and hoping the decision had been otherwise".

"I am unable to challenge because my clients are absent; that's why I am sad," he stated further.

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

The former leader faced trial in conjunction with her former home minister and top law enforcement officer.

Even though the verdict offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the nation's partisan rifts.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the Awami League has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to news organizations. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."

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

The advocate continued that the punishment was not closure for the families of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We assist multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, due to the crackdown. 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 normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with Hasina and the previous administration," he said.