🔗 Share this article

The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for atrocities over her severe measures on protests led by students which caused her removal from power.

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against demonstrators, 1,400 of whom were killed during the turmoil in the previous year.

Hasina was tried in absentia by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being responsible for hundreds of killings during the protests. The former leader rejected all charges, calling the trial as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The decision signifies a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over long-standing suppression. Families of those killed and wounded had demanded strict sentences.

Answering the judgment in a five-page statement, Hasina said the execution sentence was the interim government's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was satisfied of her leadership's history on civil liberties.

"I have no trepidation to confront those accusing me in a fair court where the proof can be evaluated and reviewed impartially."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security ahead of the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and celebrating as the verdict was read.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in disturbances, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the days leading up to the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, area law enforcement officer Jisanul Haque told press agencies.

The student-led uprising during 2024 started with calls to eliminate public sector reservation policies but transformed into a broader opposition campaign.

International human rights monitors said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could represent "violations of human dignity".

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of certain demonstrators, the purposeful disabling of additional individuals, unwarranted detentions and abuse.

Leaked audio of a call made by the former leader confirmed by media examinations in previous months suggested she had sanctioned the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the legal process.

Prior to the ruling, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations told media representatives they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

A family representative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for the former leader and associates who have "performed revengeful deeds and misused their authority".

Lucky Akther, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "executed before the election".

"Only then the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

Following her removal, an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A parliamentary election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Awami League, her political faction, was prohibited by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

Hasina warned in the previous month that if the party's candidates were barred from participating in the upcoming election, millions would boycott the ballot.

The judgment creates a international dilemma for the neighboring countries. Dhaka has formally requested her return but to date India has expressed no readiness to agree.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the decision had been otherwise".

"I even cannot appeal because my represented individuals are away; that's why I am sad," he added.

The previous week, 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 alongside her former home minister and security forces head.

Although the punishment provides certain resolution to families of killed in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The anger against Hasina and the Awami League has not subsided," a Dhaka-based rights activist told news organizations. "Both she and the organization has expressed regret or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

The activist stated "This complicates matters for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this country."

The campaigner further stated that the penalty was not resolution for the relatives of those who died and were wounded.

"We work with multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it increasingly challenging" for her party to become a regular participant of the country's governance system again.

This might transform if "there is some kind of apology and a distancing from the former leader and the old leadership," he expressed.