Bangladesh court sentences former prime minister to death

Former prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death in absentia after a court ruling found her guilty of crimes against humanity when ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year, Middle East Eye reported on November 17th .

An international crimes tribunal of three judges found Hasina guilty of incitement, issuing orders to kill, and failing to prevent atrocities during protests in July and August 2024, which brought down her government.

Hasina fled to India following her ouster and has been living there in exile ever since. The Indian government’s backing of Hasina has been linked to deteriorating relations between the countries following last year’s uprising in Dhaka.

This has led to the repression of Bengali speaking Muslims in India, as mass deportations occurred earlier this year. Furthermore, India’s government has refused to cooperate with Hasina’s extradition to face trial, ignoring several requests from Dhaka.

Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder stated 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 stated no appeal would take place unless a democratically elected government took office, with participation from Hasina’s Awami League party. Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammed Yunus announced elections would take place in February of 2026, however the Awami league has been barred from participating.

In response to the verdict, Hasina stated in an email that the tribunal was “biased and politically motivated,” adding the call for the death penalty showed “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.”

UN figures state that up to 1,400 people may have been killed, and thousands wounded during demonstrations between July 15th and August 5th 2024, mostly by gunfire from security-forces. Hasina, the daughter of independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, led Bangladesh from 1996 to 2001 and from 2009 until her 2024 ouster. Her leadership was marked by mass arrests, suppression of dissent and human rights abuse accusations. 

Bangladesh’s interim government, led by Muhammed Yunus, made Hasina’s prosecution a priority, appointing Mohammad Tajul Islam as chief prosecutor. The government denied accusations of political bias. Tensions rose amidst the verdict as 26 vehicles were torched across the country, and at least 30 crude bomb explosions were detonated. No casualties were reported.

Middle East Eye, Maghrebi.org