🔗 Share this article

The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for crimes against humanity stemming from her crackdown on student-led protests which resulted in her removal from power.

Hasina was declared culpable of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, with approximately 1,400 individuals were killed during the turmoil during 2024.

Legal proceedings were conducted without her presence by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being responsible for multiple fatalities during the protests. The former leader rejected every accusation, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over long-standing suppression. Families of those killed and injured had called for severe punishments.

Responding to the decision in a detailed document, the former leader stated the death penalty was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a governing body and that she was satisfied of her administration's performance on civil liberties.

"I am not afraid to meet my challengers in a just legal forum where the proof can be evaluated and tested fairly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards ahead of the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors organizing a demonstration and celebrating as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in unrest, with multiple explosives detonated and coaches ignited in the days leading up to the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official Jisanul Haque told news organizations.

The protest movement led by students last year commenced through requests to remove state employment quotas but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners said in a report in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could amount to "violations of human dignity".

The paper detailed the firing at close quarters of a number of activists, the intentional injuring of further participants, unwarranted detentions and abuse.

Unauthorized recordings of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by media examinations in previous months suggested she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the proceedings.

Before the decision, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations told press outlets they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

A family representative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for the former leader and associates who have "performed revengeful deeds and abused their power".

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

"Exclusively thereafter the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their hearts."

Since Hasina's ousting, an interim government headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

However, the Hasina's political party, Hasina's political party, was banned by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

The former leader cautioned in the previous month that if the party's candidates were barred from participating in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the ballot.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. Dhaka has formally requested her return but to date India has expressed no readiness to agree.

Her officially designated attorney Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the decision had been otherwise".

"I cannot even contest because my defendants are not present; that's why I am disheartened," he added.

The previous week, the defense attorneys said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN highlighting significant due process and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina in conjunction with her former home minister and top law enforcement officer.

While the sentence provides certain resolution to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the country's political divisions.

"The anger against the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not diminished," a human rights advocate from the capital told media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has apologised or demonstrated contrition for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The activist stated "It makes it difficult for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this country."

The campaigner further stated that the penalty was not resolution for the kin of those killed and injured.

"We work with several people who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, because of the suppression. They are incapable of excusing her."

A journalist, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it even more difficult" for her party to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This may change if "there is some kind of apology and a distancing from the former leader and the previous administration," he stated.