🔗 Share this article

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

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against activists, with approximately 1,400 individuals were killed during the unrest in the previous year.

Legal proceedings were conducted in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being behind multiple fatalities during the protests. She has refuted the entire case, describing the process as "biased and politically motivated".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over extended periods of oppression. Relatives of the deceased and wounded had called for strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, Hasina said the execution sentence 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 individual freedoms.

"I do not fear to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and reviewed impartially."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under enhanced protection before the verdict on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina holding a protest and applauding as the sentence was declared.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in turmoil, with multiple explosives detonated and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

One explosive incident was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police official the authorities' representative told press agencies.

The youth-driven revolt in the previous year started with calls to eliminate government job quotas but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

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

The study recorded the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the intentional injuring of further participants, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment.

Leaked audio of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by media examinations in previous months implied she had approved the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the proceedings.

Ahead of the verdict, kin of those fatally injured in the unrest told news agencies they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

One relative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for her and co-accused who have "performed revengeful deeds and abused their power".

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

"Solely at that point the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will find peace in their minds."

After her departure, an caretaker administration led by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A parliamentary election is planned for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the her former political organization, her political faction, was banned by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

Hasina warned in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were banned from standing in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the election.

The judgment creates a international dilemma for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her repatriation but to date India has shown no willingness to comply.

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

"I even cannot appeal because my defendants are not present; for that reason I am disheartened," he added.

The previous week, her legal team said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN raising significant due process and due process issues at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her former home minister and top law enforcement officer.

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

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not subsided," a Dhaka-based rights activist stated to news organizations. "Neither she nor the party has expressed regret or demonstrated contrition for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "It makes it difficult for the faction to gain approval by a majority of people in this country."

The campaigner further stated that the penalty was not finality for the relatives of those killed and injured.

"We work with multiple individuals who suffered permanent amputations, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They will never be able to forgive her."

David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it even more difficult" for the political faction to become a normal feature of the nation's political landscape again.

This could alter if "there is some kind of apology and a disassociation with Hasina and the old leadership," he said.