🔗 Share this article

Bangladesh's former prime minister has been given a death sentence for human rights violations due to her severe measures on protests led by students which caused her removal from power.

Hasina was declared culpable of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people died during the turmoil in the previous year.

The trial proceeded in absentia by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being behind numerous deaths during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, labeling the proceedings as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

This judgment represents a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over long-standing suppression. Relatives of the deceased and wounded had called for severe punishments.

Responding to the decision in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the death penalty was the temporary leadership's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was content of her administration's performance on civil liberties.

"I do not fear to meet my challengers in a fair court where the facts can be assessed and reviewed impartially."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under tightened security ahead of the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and celebrating as the sentence was declared.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in disturbances, with multiple explosives detonated and public transport vehicles burned in the time before the verdict.

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

The student-led uprising in the previous year started with requests to remove state employment quotas but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

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

The paper detailed the shooting at point-blank range of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, unwarranted detentions and mistreatment.

Disclosed sound files of a telephone conversation involving Hasina confirmed by investigative sources during the current year suggested she had sanctioned the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the proceedings.

Prior to the ruling, relatives of those killed during the protests told media representatives they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

A family representative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and exploited their positions".

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

"Exclusively thereafter the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will obtain solace in their souls."

After her departure, an caretaker administration led by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A parliamentary election is scheduled for February 2026.

However, the Awami League, her political faction, was outlawed by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

Hasina warned in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were banned from standing in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the election.

The verdict now poses a international dilemma for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but until now India has demonstrated no inclination to acquiesce.

Her officially designated attorney her legal counsel said he was "unhappy and desiring the outcome had varied".

"I even cannot appeal because my represented individuals are away; for that reason I am disheartened," he added.

Recently, the defense attorneys said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN highlighting significant due process and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her ex-interior minister and top law enforcement officer.

While the sentence grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The resentment towards Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not diminished," a Dhaka-based rights activist told press agencies. "Both she and the organization has expressed regret or demonstrated contrition for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "This creates challenges for the party to be accepted by a majority of people in this state."

The campaigner further stated that the punishment was not closure for the relatives of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We support several people who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it increasingly challenging" for the political faction to become a regular participant of the country's governance system again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the old leadership," he said.