🔗 Share this article

The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been given a death sentence for atrocities stemming from her crackdown on student-led protests which resulted in her removal from power.

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against demonstrators, among whom around 1,400 people lost their lives during the unrest in the previous 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 multiple fatalities during the protests. Hasina has denied the entire case, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had demanded strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, the former leader stated the execution sentence was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was content of her government's record on individual freedoms.

"I have no trepidation to meet my challengers in a just legal forum where the facts can be assessed and tested fairly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under enhanced protection before the decision on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and cheering as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a recent spike in disturbances, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the time before the verdict.

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

The student-led uprising last year began with demands to abolish state employment quotas but transformed into a wider anti-government movement.

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

The report documented the firing at close quarters of certain demonstrators, the intentional injuring of others, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Leaked audio of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by media examinations earlier this year indicated she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the proceedings.

Ahead of the verdict, family members of those who died in the demonstrations stated to news agencies they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

One relative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "performed revengeful deeds and exploited their positions".

A different family member, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "executed before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the families of those killed [in the protests] will obtain solace in their hearts."

After her departure, an temporary leadership led by economist Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A national vote is set for February 2026.

However, the Awami League, her political faction, was outlawed by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

The former leader cautioned last month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, numerous would avoid the election.

The judgment creates a diplomatic challenge for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but to date India has expressed no readiness to comply.

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

"I cannot even contest because my represented individuals are away; that's why I am disheartened," he stated further.

Recently, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising major judicial fairness and due process issues at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial in conjunction with her former home minister and police chief.

Although the punishment grants partial finality to kin of victims in the protests, it may do little to soothe the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not subsided," a human rights advocate from the capital told press agencies. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or demonstrated contrition for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "This creates challenges for the party to be accepted by a bulk of the population in this country."

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

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

A journalist, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it even more difficult" for Awami League to become a standard element of the country's governance system again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a separation from the former leader and the previous administration," he stated.