🔗 Share this article

The country's previous leader has been handed capital punishment for atrocities stemming from her severe measures on protests led by students which caused her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, with approximately 1,400 individuals were killed during the disturbances during 2024.

Hasina was tried without her presence by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being the mastermind of numerous deaths during the protests. Hasina has denied the entire case, calling the trial as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Families of those killed and wounded had called for tough penalties.

Answering the judgment 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 satisfied 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 court convened, was under tightened security before the decision on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and applauding as the judgment was announced.

Dhaka experienced a recent spike in turmoil, with numerous incendiary devices set off and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

One explosive incident was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, area law enforcement officer the authorities' representative stated to press agencies.

The student-led uprising in the previous year started with demands to abolish government job quotas but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

UN human rights investigators said in a report in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could amount to "crimes against humanity".

The paper detailed the firing at close quarters of certain demonstrators, the intentional injuring of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Leaked audio of one of Hasina's phone calls confirmed by external reviews in previous months implied she had approved the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the legal process.

Ahead of the verdict, kin of those who died in the demonstrations informed news agencies they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for Hasina and others who have "performed revengeful deeds and misused their authority".

A different family member, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "implemented before the election".

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

After her departure, an caretaker administration under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A national vote is scheduled for February 2026.

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

Hasina warned during the past month that if the her faction's nominees were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, millions would boycott the ballot.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for both nations. Authorities have sought her extradition but until now India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

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

"I cannot even contest because my defendants are not present; for that reason I am disheartened," he added.

Last week, the defense attorneys said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN raising significant due process and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial alongside her former home minister and security forces head.

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to kin of victims in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the state's ideological splits.

"The resentment towards Sheikh Hasina and the her political party has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to news organizations. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

The advocate declared "This creates challenges for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this nation."

The activist added that the punishment was not resolution for the relatives of those killed and injured.

"We assist multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, because of the suppression. They are incapable of excusing her."

A journalist, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for the political faction to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This may change if "an expression of regret occurs and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the previous administration," he stated.