🔗 Share this article

Bangladesh's former prime minister has been given a death sentence for atrocities stemming from her severe measures on youth demonstrations which caused her forced departure.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom lost their lives during the turmoil last year.

Legal proceedings were conducted without her presence by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of numerous deaths during the protests. She has refuted every accusation, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

The verdict marks a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Families of those killed and injured had called for severe punishments.

Answering the judgment in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the execution sentence was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was satisfied of her administration's performance on individual freedoms.

"I have no trepidation to meet my challengers in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under tightened security ahead of the ruling on Monday, with several of her detractors holding a protest and applauding as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in unrest, with multiple explosives detonated and public transport vehicles burned in the days leading up to the verdict.

One explosive incident was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, regional security representative the authorities' representative informed media outlets.

The youth-driven revolt in the previous year started with requests to remove public sector reservation policies but transformed into a broader opposition campaign.

UN human rights investigators declared in an analysis in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could represent "crimes against humanity".

The report documented the firing at close quarters of some protesters, the purposeful disabling of further participants, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina verified by investigative sources during the current year implied she had authorized the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

Before the decision, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations told media representatives they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

One relative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for her and co-accused who have "performed revengeful deeds and abused their power".

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 families of those killed [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

Since Hasina's ousting, an temporary leadership headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A parliamentary election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Awami League, Hasina's political party, was banned by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

Hasina warned last month that if the the League's representatives were banned from standing in the upcoming election, millions would boycott the vote.

This decision presents a international dilemma for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her return but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to acquiesce.

Her officially designated attorney her legal counsel said he was "disappointed and hoping the decision had been otherwise".

"I cannot even contest because my clients are absent; for that reason I am sad," he added.

The previous week, her legal team said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN pointing out major judicial fairness and due process issues at the ICT.

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

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may not significantly ease the nation's partisan rifts.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed media outlets. "The leader and her faction has expressed regret or shown any remorse for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The activist stated "This complicates matters for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this nation."

The advocate continued that the sentence was not finality for the families of those who died and were wounded.

"We assist multiple individuals who lost their limbs forever, they are currently without limbs, due to the crackdown. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it particularly hard" for her party to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This might transform if "an expression of regret occurs and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the old leadership," he expressed.