🔗 Share this article

The country's previous leader has been handed capital punishment for human rights violations stemming from her severe measures on student-led protests which resulted in her removal from power.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, with approximately 1,400 individuals were killed during the disturbances during 2024.

The trial proceeded in absentia by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being behind hundreds of killings during the protests. Hasina has denied every accusation, describing the process as "biased and politically motivated".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over years of repression. Relatives of the deceased and injured had demanded severe punishments.

Reacting to the verdict in a comprehensive declaration, the former leader stated the death penalty was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was proud of her administration's performance on individual freedoms.

"I have no trepidation to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security before the ruling on Monday, with several of her detractors organizing a demonstration and applauding as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a sudden increase in turmoil, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the days leading up to the verdict.

One explosive incident was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official the authorities' representative stated to news organizations.

The student-led uprising in the previous year began with requests to remove public sector reservation policies but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could amount to "crimes against humanity".

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

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by investigative sources in previous months suggested she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the legal process.

Before the decision, kin of those killed during the protests told news agencies they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

A family representative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for her and co-accused who have "performed revengeful deeds and misused their authority".

A different family member, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "executed before the election".

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

Since Hasina's ousting, an caretaker administration under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A general election is planned for February 2026.

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

The former leader cautioned last month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the vote.

The verdict now poses a diplomatic challenge for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her return but until now India has shown no willingness to comply.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer her legal counsel said he was "sad [and wishes] the decision had been otherwise".

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

The previous week, Hasina's lawyers said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising major judicial fairness and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial in conjunction with her previous domestic affairs official and police chief.

While the sentence grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may do little to soothe the state's ideological splits.

"The anger against the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not decreased," a human rights advocate from the capital stated to press agencies. "The leader and her faction has said sorry or demonstrated contrition for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "This creates challenges for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this country."

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

"We assist several people who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are currently without limbs, due to the crackdown. They are incapable of excusing her."

An analyst, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it particularly hard" for her party to become a standard element of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "an expression of regret occurs and a distancing from the former leader and the previous administration," he stated.