🔗 Share this article

Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity due to her severe measures on youth demonstrations which resulted in her removal from power.

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against demonstrators, 1,400 of whom died during the disturbances last year.

Hasina was tried while she was absent by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile 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 the entire case, labeling the proceedings as "biased and politically motivated".

The decision signifies a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over years of repression. Families of those killed and wounded had demanded severe punishments.

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, Hasina said the capital punishment was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was proud of her administration's performance on civil liberties.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the facts can be assessed and tested fairly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under tightened security prior to the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and cheering as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a notable rise in unrest, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official the police spokesperson informed news organizations.

The protest movement led by students last year started with demands to abolish state employment quotas but transformed into a broader opposition campaign.

United Nations rights examiners said in a report in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could amount to "human rights atrocities".

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of some protesters, the deliberate maiming of further participants, unwarranted detentions and torture.

Leaked audio of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by investigative sources during the current year implied she had authorized the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

Prior to the ruling, family members of those fatally injured in the unrest told press outlets they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

A family representative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for her and co-accused who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and abused their power".

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

"Only then the families of those killed [in the protests] will find peace in their hearts."

Following her removal, an interim government headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A general election is planned for February 2026.

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

Hasina warned last month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the election.

This decision presents a diplomatic challenge for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but so far India has expressed no readiness to comply.

The legal representative assigned to her her legal counsel said he was "disappointed and hoping the decision had been otherwise".

"I even cannot appeal because my represented individuals are away; that's why I am sad," he continued.

The previous week, the defense attorneys said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN pointing out serious fair trial and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina alongside her former home minister and security forces head.

Although the punishment grants partial finality to families of killed in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The resentment towards the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed news organizations. "The leader and her faction has said sorry or displayed repentance for the killings of hundreds of people."

The activist stated "This creates challenges for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this nation."

The activist added that the punishment was not finality for the relatives of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We work with several people who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They will never be able to forgive her."

A journalist, 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 standard element of Bangladeshi politics again.

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