🔗 Share this article

Bangladesh's former prime minister has been handed capital punishment for atrocities over her harsh response on student-led protests which caused her removal from power.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of allowing lethal force to be used against activists, 1,400 of whom lost their lives during the unrest last year.

Hasina was tried while she was absent by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being responsible for numerous deaths during the protests. She has refuted every accusation, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The verdict marks a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over long-standing suppression. Families of those killed and injured had requested severe punishments.

Answering the judgment in a comprehensive declaration, Hasina said the death penalty was the temporary leadership's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was satisfied of her leadership's history on civil liberties.

"I am not afraid to confront those accusing me in a just legal forum where the facts can be assessed and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under enhanced protection prior to the verdict on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally 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 days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police official the authorities' representative informed media outlets.

The youth-driven revolt in the previous year commenced through calls to eliminate government job quotas but morphed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

International human rights monitors stated in a document in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could constitute "crimes against humanity".

The study recorded the firing at close quarters of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of further participants, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment.

Unauthorized recordings of one of Hasina's phone calls verified by investigative sources during the current year indicated she had authorized the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the proceedings.

Ahead of the verdict, family members of those fatally injured in the unrest informed news agencies they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

Ramjan Ali, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for the former leader and associates who have "performed revengeful deeds and abused their power".

Another relative, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "implemented before the election".

"Solely at that point the families of those killed [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

After her departure, an temporary leadership led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A general election is planned for February 2026.

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

The former leader cautioned during the past month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the forthcoming vote, millions would boycott the ballot.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to acquiesce.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer her legal counsel said he was "disappointed and hoping the outcome had varied".

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; for that reason I am sad," he continued.

Last week, the defense attorneys said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN pointing out significant due process and due process issues at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her previous domestic affairs official and top law enforcement officer.

Although the punishment offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may do little to soothe the state's ideological splits.

"The resentment towards Hasina and the her political party has not subsided," a human rights advocate from the capital told media outlets. "The leader and her faction has apologised or shown any remorse for the fatalities of countless citizens."

She said "This complicates matters for the party to be accepted by a majority of people in this state."

The advocate continued that the penalty was not resolution for the kin of those who died and were wounded.

"We work with numerous persons who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, due to the crackdown. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it particularly hard" for the political faction to become a normal feature of the nation's political landscape again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from the former leader and the former hierarchy," he said.