Sheikh Hasina, former Bangladesh prime minister, sentenced to death

A court in Bangladesh has sentenced former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to death in absentia, after finding her guilty of crimes against humanity when ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year. 

An international crimes tribunal made up of three judges found Hasina guilty of a number of crimes, including incitement, orders to kill and inaction to prevent atrocities during protests in July and August last year, which brought down her government. 

Hasina has been living in exile in India, where she fled in August 2024 following her ouster. India's government has repeatedly ignored requests from Bangladesh for Hasina's extradition to face trial. 

Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder said the “accused prime minister committed crimes against humanity by her order to use drones, helicopters and lethal weapons”.

The verdict can be appealed in Bangladesh’s supreme court, however Hasina’s son and adviser Sajeeb Wazed said there would be no appeal unless a democratically elected government took office with the participation of Hasina’s Awami League party. 

The party has been banned from taking part in upcoming elections in February. 

Reacting to the verdict, Hasina said in an email to media outlets that the tribunal was “biased and politically motivated”. 

“In their distasteful call for the death penalty, they reveal the brazen and murderous intent of extremist figures within the interim government to remove Bangladesh’s last elected prime minister, and to nullify the Awami League as a political force," she said.

Deadly anti-government protests 

According to the United Nations, up to 1,400 people may have been killed during anti-government demonstrations between 15 July and 5 August 2024, with thousands of others wounded. Most of them were killed by gunfire from security forces. 

Prosecutors told the court that they had uncovered evidence of Hasina directly commanding the use of lethal force to suppress the uprising. 

Hasina led Bangladesh between 1996 and 2001, and again from 2009 until her ouster in 2024.

The 78-year-old’s rule was marred by mass arrests of political opponents, the silencing of dissenting voices and accusations of human rights abuses.

Hasina is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the leader of Bangladesh’s independence movement in the 1970s dubbed “father of the nation”.

How Bangladesh's student protesters forced Sheikh Hasina from power

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Since August last year, the country has been governed by an interim administration led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus. 

Yunus’s government promised last year to make Hasina’s prosecution a key priority, and appointed Mohammad Tajul Islam as chief prosecutor to build a case to be heard at the tribunal in Dhaka. 

The government rejected Hasina’s accusations of political bias. 

“The tribunal has functioned transparently, allowing observers and publishing regular documentation,” a government spokesperson told Reuters shortly before the verdict. “No credible human rights body has described the current process as politically driven.”

The situation in Bangladesh has been tense in recent days ahead of the verdict, with 26 vehicles torched across the country and at least 30 crude bomb explosions. There were no casualties. 

Security was tight across the major cities on Monday, with forces deployed around key government buildings.