🔗 Share this article

The country's previous leader has been handed capital punishment for atrocities due to her severe measures on student-led protests which led to her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the disturbances in the previous year.

Hasina was tried while she was absent by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. The former leader rejected all charges, describing the process as "biased and politically motivated".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over years of repression. Relatives of the deceased and harmed had requested tough penalties.

Answering the judgment in a detailed document, she expressed the death penalty was the interim government's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was satisfied of her leadership's history on civil liberties.

"I have no trepidation to meet my challengers in a just legal forum where the facts can be assessed and tested fairly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under enhanced protection before the ruling on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and celebrating as the judgment was announced.

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

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, area law enforcement officer the police spokesperson informed media outlets.

The protest movement led by students last year started with demands to abolish public sector reservation policies but morphed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

International human rights monitors said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could represent "crimes against humanity".

The study recorded the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of further participants, unwarranted detentions and mistreatment.

Unauthorized recordings of a call made by the former leader confirmed by external reviews in previous months indicated she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

Before the decision, kin of those fatally injured in the unrest informed media representatives they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

One relative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for her and co-accused who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and exploited their positions".

Lucky Akther, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "carried out before the election".

"Only then the families of those killed [in the protests] will find peace in their souls."

Following her removal, an interim government under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A parliamentary election is planned for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Awami League, the former ruling party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

She alerted in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were banned from standing in the forthcoming vote, numerous would avoid the election.

The judgment creates a diplomatic challenge for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her repatriation but so far India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

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

"I am unable to challenge because my defendants are not present; that's why I am disheartened," he added.

The previous week, her legal team said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN pointing out serious fair trial and judicial process problems at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial in conjunction with her previous domestic affairs official and security forces head.

While the sentence offers some closure to families of killed in the protests, it may not significantly ease the nation's partisan rifts.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has said sorry or displayed repentance for the fatalities of countless citizens."

She said "This complicates matters for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this state."

The activist added that the penalty was not finality for the relatives of those killed and injured.

"We support several people who suffered permanent amputations, they are now disabled, because of the suppression. They are incapable of excusing her."

A journalist, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for the political faction to become a regular participant of the nation's political landscape again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with Hasina and the previous administration," he stated.