🔗 Share this article

The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been handed capital punishment for human rights violations due to her crackdown on student-led protests which caused her removal from power.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against activists, with approximately 1,400 individuals lost their lives during the disturbances last year.

The trial proceeded in absentia by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of numerous deaths during the protests. She has refuted all charges, describing the process as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The decision signifies a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Relatives of the deceased and wounded had called for tough penalties.

Answering the judgment in a comprehensive declaration, Hasina said the death penalty was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a governing body and that she was satisfied of her government's record on individual freedoms.

"I am not afraid to meet my challengers in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under enhanced protection ahead of the verdict on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and celebrating as the sentence was declared.

The capital witnessed a notable rise in unrest, with multiple explosives detonated and coaches ignited in the time before the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police official Jisanul Haque told news organizations.

The student-led uprising in the previous year started with demands to abolish government job quotas but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could constitute "human rights atrocities".

The report documented the firing at close quarters of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of others, unjustified apprehensions and abuse.

Disclosed sound files of a telephone conversation involving Hasina verified by investigative sources in previous months suggested she had authorized the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the proceedings.

Ahead of the verdict, family members of those fatally injured in the unrest told media representatives they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

A family representative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for her and co-accused who have "performed revengeful deeds and exploited their positions".

Lucky Akther, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "carried out before the election".

"Only then the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

After her departure, an caretaker administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A national vote is set for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the her former political organization, her political faction, was banned by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

The former leader cautioned during the past month that if the her faction's nominees were banned from standing in the upcoming election, numerous would avoid the election.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. Dhaka has formally requested her repatriation but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to acquiesce.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer the defense lawyer said he was "unhappy and desiring the verdict had been different".

"I cannot even contest because my clients are absent; which is why I am sad," he stated further.

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

The former leader faced trial in conjunction with her previous domestic affairs official and top law enforcement officer.

While the sentence grants partial finality to families of killed in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the nation's partisan rifts.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not diminished," a human rights advocate from the capital stated to news organizations. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "This complicates matters for the organization to receive endorsement by a majority of people in this nation."

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

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

An analyst, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it even more difficult" for Awami League to become a standard element of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "there is some kind of apology and a disassociation with the former leader and the former hierarchy," he expressed.