🔗 Share this article

The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for human rights violations over her harsh response on youth demonstrations which caused her forced departure.

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

Legal proceedings were conducted in absentia by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being behind multiple fatalities during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and injured had called for severe punishments.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, she expressed the death penalty was the temporary leadership's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was proud of her administration's performance on civil liberties.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where the facts can be assessed and tested fairly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under enhanced protection before the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors holding a protest and cheering as the verdict was read.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in disturbances, with multiple explosives detonated and coaches ignited in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police official the authorities' representative stated to media outlets.

The protest movement led by students in the previous year began with demands to abolish public sector reservation policies but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners stated in a document in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could represent "human rights atrocities".

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

Unauthorized recordings of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by media examinations in previous months implied she had approved the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the proceedings.

Prior to the ruling, family members of those fatally injured in the unrest informed news agencies they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

Ramjan Ali, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for her and co-accused who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

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

"Solely at that point the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

After her departure, an temporary leadership led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A parliamentary election is planned for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Awami League, the former ruling party, was banned by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

She alerted last month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the ballot.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her repatriation but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "disappointed and hoping the verdict had been different".

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

The previous week, the defense attorneys said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN pointing out significant due process and judicial process problems at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial together with her previous domestic affairs official and police chief.

Although the punishment provides certain resolution to families of killed in the protests, it may not significantly ease the nation's partisan rifts.

"The anger against the former leader and the her political party has not subsided," a Dhaka-based rights activist stated to news organizations. "Both she and the organization has apologised or demonstrated contrition for the killings of hundreds of people."

The advocate declared "This complicates matters for the faction to gain approval by a majority of people in this nation."

The advocate continued that the penalty was not closure for the families of those killed and injured.

"We assist several people who suffered permanent amputations, they are currently without limbs, due to the crackdown. They cannot pardon her."

David Bergman, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it even more difficult" for the political faction to become a regular participant of the country's governance system again.

This could alter if "there is some kind of apology and a disassociation with the former leader and the previous administration," he said.