🔗 Share this article

Bangladesh's former prime minister has been handed capital punishment for crimes against humanity due to her harsh response on student-led protests which caused her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people died during the unrest last year.

The trial proceeded without her presence by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being responsible for hundreds of killings during the protests. She has refuted every accusation, calling the trial as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The verdict marks a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and injured had requested tough penalties.

Responding to the decision in a comprehensive declaration, Hasina said the execution sentence was the temporary leadership's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was content of her administration's performance on human rights.

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

The capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under tightened security ahead of the decision on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and celebrating as the verdict was read.

The city has seen a recent spike in unrest, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police official Jisanul Haque stated to press agencies.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 began with requests to remove public sector reservation policies but evolved into a more extensive dissent initiative.

UN human rights investigators said in a report in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could constitute "crimes against humanity".

The report documented the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, unwarranted detentions and abuse.

Leaked audio of a telephone conversation involving Hasina verified by investigative sources earlier this year implied she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the proceedings.

Ahead of the verdict, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations informed press outlets they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

Ramjan Ali, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for her and co-accused who have "performed revengeful deeds and misused their authority".

Another relative, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "implemented before the election".

"Only then the kin of victims [in the protests] will obtain solace in their souls."

After her departure, an interim government under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A parliamentary election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Awami League, the former ruling party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

She alerted last month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the upcoming election, numerous would avoid the vote.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but to date India has shown no willingness to acquiesce.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "sad [and wishes] the decision had been otherwise".

"I am unable to challenge because my defendants are not present; which is why I am disheartened," he added.

Recently, the defense attorneys said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN raising serious fair trial and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Hasina was tried together with her previous domestic affairs official and security forces head.

Although the punishment offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may do little to soothe the nation's partisan rifts.

"The anger against Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told news organizations. "The leader and her faction has apologised or shown any remorse for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The activist stated "This complicates matters for the organization to receive endorsement by a most citizens in this state."

The activist added that the sentence was not closure for the families of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We work with numerous persons who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They cannot pardon her."

A journalist, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it even more difficult" for the political faction to become a regular participant of the nation's political landscape again.

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