🔗 Share this article

The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for human rights violations over her crackdown on student-led protests which led to her ousting.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people died during the turmoil last year.

The trial proceeded without her presence by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being responsible for numerous deaths during the protests. Hasina has denied the entire case, describing the process as "biased and politically motivated".

The decision signifies a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over extended periods of oppression. Relatives of the deceased and harmed had requested strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, the former leader stated the execution sentence was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was content of her administration's performance on human rights.

"I have no trepidation to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the proof can be evaluated and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards prior to the decision on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally and cheering as the verdict was read.

The capital witnessed a notable rise in unrest, with dozens of bombs exploded and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, regional security representative Jisanul Haque informed news organizations.

The student-led uprising last year started with requests to remove government job quotas but morphed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

International human rights monitors said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could represent "human rights atrocities".

The paper detailed the shooting at point-blank range of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and abuse.

Disclosed sound files of a call made by the former leader confirmed by external reviews during the current year indicated she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the trial.

Prior to the ruling, relatives of those fatally injured in the unrest informed press outlets they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

Ramjan Ali, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for the former leader and associates who have "committed acts of vengeance and exploited their positions".

Lucky Akther, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "executed before the election".

"Solely at that point the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will achieve closure in their souls."

After her departure, an caretaker administration under the guidance of economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the her former political organization, Hasina's political party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

She alerted last month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the upcoming election, millions would boycott the vote.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her return but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to comply.

Her officially designated attorney Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "sad [and wishes] the verdict had been different".

"I cannot even contest because my clients are absent; which is why I am sad," he stated further.

Last week, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising major judicial fairness and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Hasina was tried in conjunction with her former home minister and police chief.

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

"The resentment towards Sheikh Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has expressed regret or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."

She said "This creates challenges for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this nation."

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

"We support numerous persons who lost their limbs forever, 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 "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it even more difficult" for the political faction to become a normal feature of the nation's political landscape again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with the former leader and the former hierarchy," he said.