🔗 Share this article

The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for human rights violations stemming from her crackdown on protests led by students which resulted in her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, with approximately 1,400 individuals were killed during the turmoil during 2024.

Hasina was tried 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 responsible for hundreds of killings during the protests. Hasina has denied all charges, describing the process as "biased and politically motivated".

The decision signifies a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and injured had requested strict sentences.

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, Hasina said the capital punishment was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was satisfied of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I am not afraid to meet my challengers in a fair court where the evidence can be weighed and reviewed impartially."

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under increased safeguards before the verdict on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and celebrating as the judgment was announced.

The city has seen a notable rise in disturbances, with numerous incendiary devices set off and public transport vehicles burned in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police official Jisanul Haque told news organizations.

The student-led uprising in the previous year started with calls to eliminate state employment quotas but transformed into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could constitute "crimes against humanity".

The paper detailed the gunfire from minimal distance of some protesters, the purposeful disabling of additional individuals, unwarranted detentions and torture.

Leaked audio of a call made by the former leader verified by media examinations during the current year indicated she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the proceedings.

Ahead of the verdict, relatives of those killed during the protests told media representatives they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

One relative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

Lucky Akther, whose partner was fatally injured 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 families of those killed [in the protests] will find peace in their souls."

Following her removal, an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Awami League, the former ruling party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

Hasina warned last month that if the her faction's nominees were prohibited from running in the upcoming election, millions would boycott the election.

The verdict now poses a diplomatic challenge for the neighboring countries. Authorities have sought her extradition but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to comply.

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

"I am unable to challenge because my clients are absent; for that reason I am disheartened," he stated further.

Recently, Hasina's lawyers said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN pointing out serious fair trial and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Hasina was tried together with her previous domestic affairs official and police chief.

Although the punishment provides certain resolution to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the country's political divisions.

"The resentment towards Sheikh Hasina and the her political party has not diminished," a human rights advocate from the capital stated to news organizations. "Both she and the organization has apologised or shown any remorse for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The advocate declared "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a bulk of the population in this state."

The activist added that the sentence was not resolution for the families of those killed and injured.

"We support multiple individuals who lost their limbs forever, they are now disabled, because of the suppression. They will never be able to forgive her."

David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it particularly hard" for her party to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This may change if "a form of contrition emerges and a separation from Sheikh Hasina and the former hierarchy," he expressed.