Lawmakers in Dhaka sentenced the former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death on November 17, after she was found guilty of crimes against humanity. Johanna Geron/Reuters/File
Sheikh Hasina, the ousted Prime Minister of Bangladesh, has been sentenced to death after being found guilty of crimes against humanity for the violent suppression of student protests last year that led to the collapse of her government.
A panel of three judges from the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes court, delivered their verdict Monday, ruling that Hasina was responsible for inciting hundreds of extrajudicial killings carried out by law enforcement.
Hasina has been staying in self-imposed exile in India’s capital New Delhi since August 2024, after student protesters forced her and the Awami League political party out of power. She was not present at the court in Dhaka.
The former prime minister faced five charges primarily related to inciting the murder of the protestors, ordering demonstrators be hanged, and ordering the use of lethal weapons, drones and helicopters to suppress the unrest. She has long denied the charges.
The courtroom, where some victims’ families were present, burst into applause as the judges delivered their sentence.
“Sheikh Hasina committed crimes against humanity by her incitement, order and failure to take punitive measures,” one of the judges said as he delivered the verdict.
It was “crystal clear” that she “expressed her incitement to the activists of her party … and furthermore, she expressed that she ordered to kill and eliminate the protesting students,” the judges said.
For a nation still reeling from the popular revolt that ousted her, the verdict represents a stunning culmination. For many, it offers judicial validation for an uprising fueled by years of simmering anger against the creeping authoritarianism that defined her long rule.
The verdict’s impact is also being felt in New Delhi. Bangladesh’s interim government has formally demanded the extradition of its former leader, but India has so far remained silent on the request.
New Delhi on Monday said it will “engage constructively with all stakeholders.”
“As a close neighbour, India remains committed to the best interests of the people of Bangladesh, including in peace, democracy, inclusion and stability in that country,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
What began as peaceful student demonstrations over civil service job quotas transformed into a nationwide push for Hasina’s resignation. The turning point was a government crackdown that may have killed up to 1,400 people, according to the UN’s human rights office (OHCHR). Up to 25,000 were also injured, the court heard.
The UN declared the verdict on Monday as an “important moment for victims” but cautioned that rights advocates “regret the imposition of the death penalty, which we oppose in all circumstances.”
“While we were not privy to the conduct of this trial, we have consistently advocated for all accountability proceedings – especially on charges of international crimes – to unquestionably meet international standards of due process and fair trial,” OHCHR spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani, said in a statement.
Hasina slammed the “biased and politically motivated” tribunal on Monday.
“The verdicts announced against me have been made by a rigged tribunal established and presided over by an unelected government with no democratic mandate,” Hasina said in a statement shared by her Awami League party on social media, following the verdict.
“I reject the ICT’s other allegations of human rights abuses as equally unevidenced. I am very proud of my government’s record on human rights and development,” she added.
Hasina ruled the South Asian nation with an iron-fist from 2009 until her ouster in 2024. Now, analysts fear the verdict on Monday could set off a wave of political chaos ahead of national elections expected in February next year.
Last week, her lawyers submitted an appeal to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions over “serious concerns about the lack of fair trial rights and due process.”
On Monday, government officials in Dhaka called on the Indian government to “hand over these two sentenced individuals to Bangladesh authorities without delay.” “This is India’s responsibility in keeping with the existing bilateral extradition treaty between both countries,” the Bangladeshi foreign ministry said in a statement.
‘Break it down and burn it’
Dozens of protesters descended on the crumbled residence of Hasina’s father – former Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman – in Dhanmondi neighborhood, central Bangladesh, before the verdict on Monday.
Footage from local media showed demonstrators – who arrived with two bulldozers – lighting the street on fire. Some chanted, “Break it down and burn it,” referring to the Hasina family’s dynastic grip on power. Army and police forces hurled batons at them, video showed.
Others received the verdict as a call for celebration, with students at the prestigious Dhaka University organizing a rally and distributing sweets.
It came after violence erupted in the capital Dhaka on Sunday, with several Molotov cocktails exploding after being thrown by people on bikes, police said.
Security had been tightened, with armored vehicles and officers with riot shields placed around the courthouse, and police, border guard and rapid action teams deployed near key government buildings.
Protesters gather outside the demolished residence of former Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the Hasina in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday. Ahadul Karim Khan/AP
Hasina’s son on Sunday told Reuters that supporters of her party would block next year’s elections if a ban on her party was not lifted, warning that protests could become violent.
“We will not allow elections without the Awami League to go ahead,” he said. “Our protests are going to get stronger and stronger, and we will do whatever it takes. Unless the international community does something, eventually there’s probably going to be violence in Bangladesh before these elections … there’s going to be confrontations.”
Hasina’s political journey is a story of tragedy, exile and power, inextricably linked to the history of her home country itself. Under her stewardship, Bangladesh was ushered into an era of significant economic development albeit alongside accusations of corruption, democratic backsliding, authoritarianism and human rights abuses.
A life in politics
The eldest daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, founding father of Bangladesh, she was thrust into politics early in life as she witnessed the struggle for Bengali autonomy from Pakistan.
Following a 1975 military coup in which her father, mother, and three brothers were assassinated, Hasina and her sister were forced into exile. She returned to Bangladesh in 1981 to lead her father’s Awami League, and after years of political opposition, first became Prime Minister when the party won the 1996 election.
She served for one term and later returned to power in 2008, ruling Bangladesh with her Awami League until last year.
Bangladesh had seen strong economic growth under Hasina, but human rights organizations warned that she and her government were headed toward a one-party system. Critics expressed concerns over increased reports of political violence, voter intimidation, and harassment of the media and opposition figures.
During her time in power, rights groups say the government used its cyber security law to crack down on freedom of expression online, arresting journalists, artists and activists, with reported cases of arbitrary detention and torture.
But Hasina managed to weather many previous protests against her rule.
That changed last year with the successful Gen Z-led revolution that toppled her.
Many of her family members, along with prominent party leaders and former ministers from her administration have also fled Bangladesh.
Supporters of Hasina dismiss the legal proceedings as politically motivated and designed to remove her from the political arena. The Awami League party has been banned from political activities while the trials against Hasina and party leaders continues.
The interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, asserts that these trials are an essential step toward restoring accountability and rebuilding public trust in the nation’s democratic institutions.
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