🔗 Share this article

The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been handed capital punishment for atrocities over her harsh response on student-led protests which caused her removal from power.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of authorizing deadly measures to be used against activists, with approximately 1,400 individuals died during the unrest last year.

Legal proceedings were conducted in absentia by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being the mastermind of hundreds of killings during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, describing the process as "biased and politically motivated".

This judgment represents a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Relatives of the deceased and injured had requested strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the execution sentence was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was satisfied of her administration's performance on civil liberties.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where the proof can be evaluated and examined justly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under tightened security prior to the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics organizing a demonstration and celebrating as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in disturbances, with dozens of bombs exploded and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official the authorities' representative told press agencies.

The youth-driven revolt during 2024 commenced through requests to remove government job 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 represent "crimes against humanity".

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the intentional injuring of additional individuals, unwarranted detentions and torture.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by investigative sources earlier this year indicated she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the legal process.

Before the decision, relatives of those fatally injured in the unrest told press outlets they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

One relative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for the former leader and associates who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

Another relative, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "implemented before the election".

"Solely at that point the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will achieve closure in their souls."

Following her removal, an caretaker administration headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A national vote is set for February 2026.

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

She alerted last month that if the her faction's nominees were banned from standing in the imminent electoral process, numerous would avoid the vote.

This decision presents a diplomatic challenge for the neighboring countries. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but to date India has expressed no readiness to agree.

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

"I am unable to challenge because my clients are absent; for that reason I am disheartened," he stated further.

Recently, Hasina's lawyers said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN highlighting serious fair trial and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina together with her former home minister and police chief.

Although the punishment provides certain resolution to families of killed in the protests, it may do little to soothe the nation's partisan rifts.

"The resentment towards Sheikh Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not subsided," a human rights advocate from the capital told news organizations. "The leader and her faction has expressed regret or displayed repentance for the killings of hundreds of people."

The activist stated "This complicates matters for the party to be accepted by a majority of people in this nation."

The campaigner further stated that the punishment was not closure for the relatives of those who died and were wounded.

"We assist multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are currently without limbs, as a result of the harsh measures. They are incapable of excusing her."

David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it increasingly challenging" for her party to become a standard element of the country's governance system again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with the former leader and the former hierarchy," he expressed.