🔗 Share this article

The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for human rights violations due to her severe measures on student-led protests which caused her forced departure.

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against activists, among whom around 1,400 people lost their lives during the disturbances in the previous year.

Hasina was tried while she was absent by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, since she went into exile 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 every accusation, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The verdict marks a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over years of repression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had requested strict sentences.

Answering the judgment in a comprehensive declaration, Hasina said the death penalty was the interim government's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was proud of her government's record on civil liberties.

"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 enhanced protection before the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and cheering as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a recent spike in unrest, with dozens of bombs exploded and buses set on fire in the time before the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, area law enforcement officer the police spokesperson told news organizations.

The youth-driven revolt in the previous year started with demands to abolish public sector reservation policies but morphed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could represent "crimes against humanity".

The study recorded the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Leaked audio of a call made by the former leader confirmed by external reviews during the current year implied she had approved the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the proceedings.

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

Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for the former leader and associates who have "performed revengeful deeds and exploited their positions".

Another relative, 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 achieve closure in their hearts."

Since Hasina's ousting, an interim government led by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A general election is set for February 2026.

However, the Awami League, Hasina's political party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

Hasina warned in the previous month that if the her faction's nominees were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the election.

This decision presents a diplomatic challenge for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but to date India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

Her officially designated attorney Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "sad [and wishes] the outcome had varied".

"I am unable to challenge because my defendants are not present; that's why I am disheartened," he stated further.

The previous week, the defense attorneys said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN pointing out major judicial fairness and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina together with her ex-interior minister and police chief.

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may do little to soothe the nation's partisan rifts.

"The anger against Sheikh Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not decreased," a human rights advocate from the capital informed media outlets. "The leader and her faction has expressed regret or shown any remorse for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The activist stated "It makes it difficult for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this country."

The campaigner further stated that the punishment was not closure for the kin of those killed and injured.

"We work with multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, due to the crackdown. They will never be able to forgive her."

An analyst, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for her party to become a regular participant of the country's governance system again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the old leadership," he said.