🔗 Share this article

Bangladesh's former prime minister has been handed capital punishment for human rights violations stemming from her severe measures on youth demonstrations which caused her removal from power.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the disturbances in the previous year.

Hasina was tried in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being the mastermind of numerous deaths during the protests. The former leader rejected all charges, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over years of repression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had demanded strict sentences.

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, she expressed the death penalty was the temporary leadership's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was proud of her administration's performance on civil liberties.

"I have no trepidation to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where the proof can be evaluated and tested fairly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under enhanced protection before the verdict on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina holding a protest and cheering as the sentence was declared.

Dhaka experienced a sudden increase in disturbances, with numerous incendiary devices set off and public transport vehicles burned in the time before the verdict.

One explosive incident was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police official the police spokesperson told news organizations.

The student-led uprising during 2024 began with requests to remove government job quotas but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could amount to "crimes against humanity".

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of others, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by investigative sources during the current year indicated she had authorized the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the legal process.

Prior to the ruling, kin of those killed during the protests stated to press outlets they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

Ramjan Ali, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for her and co-accused who have "performed revengeful deeds and abused their power".

Lucky Akther, 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 relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will obtain solace in their minds."

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

However, the Hasina's political party, her political faction, was prohibited by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

She alerted last month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the upcoming election, millions would boycott the ballot.

This decision presents a international dilemma for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but until now India has shown no willingness to agree.

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

"I cannot even contest because my clients are absent; which is why I am disheartened," he continued.

Last week, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN highlighting serious fair trial and judicial process problems at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial alongside her previous domestic affairs official and police chief.

While the sentence offers some closure to families of killed in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the her political party has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has apologised or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."

She said "It makes it difficult for the faction to gain approval by a most citizens in this nation."

The activist added that the sentence was not finality for the relatives of those who died and were wounded.

"We support multiple individuals who suffered permanent amputations, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They are incapable of excusing her."

A journalist, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for the political faction to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with the former leader and the former hierarchy," he stated.