Bangladesh court sentences Ex-PM Hasina to death
A Bangladesh court on Monday sentenced former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to death after finding her guilty of crimes against humanity linked to a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising that ended her rule in August 2024. The courtroom erupted in cheers as Judge Golam Mortuza Mozumder delivered the judgment, which was broadcast live nationwide.
Hasina, 78, defied orders to return from India to face trial, which examined whether she authorised mass killings during efforts to suppress the protests that toppled her government. The ruling comes just months before Bangladesh’s first election since her removal, scheduled for February 2026.
Judge Mozumder stated that all elements of crimes against humanity had been established, declaring Hasina guilty on three counts: incitement, ordering killings, and failing to prevent atrocities. “We have decided to inflict her with only one sentence — that is, sentence of death,” he said.
Former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, also tried in absentia, was similarly sentenced to death after being found guilty on four counts. Former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who appeared in court and pleaded guilty, received a five-year prison term.
Bangladesh has endured deep political turmoil since the collapse of Hasina’s administration, with violence intensifying ahead of the upcoming elections. The UN estimates that up to 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns carried out as she sought to maintain power — deaths that formed the basis of the prosecution’s case.
Chief prosecutor Tajul Islam said ahead of the judgment that he hoped the verdict would satisfy the public’s “thirst for justice” and mark an end to crimes against humanity in the country.
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The trial featured months of testimony alleging that Hasina ordered mass killings. She dismissed the proceedings as a “jurisprudential joke,” refused to recognise the court, and rejected all charges. In an October interview with AFP, she said the verdict was “preordained.”
Security was tight around the Dhaka court, with armoured vehicles and heavy police presence. Authorities placed nearly half of the city’s 34,000 officers on duty amid fears of unrest. Recent weeks have seen a spate of crude bomb attacks targeting government facilities, buses, and Christian sites.
Bangladesh’s foreign ministry also summoned India’s envoy, accusing New Delhi of giving Hasina — whom it labelled a “notorious fugitive” — a platform to attack the interim government.
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Despite her exile, Hasina has remained vocal, saying she “mourned all the lives lost” during the 2024 uprising — comments that angered many who view her as responsible for the bloodshed. She also warned that the interim government’s ban on her Awami League party was worsening the country’s political crisis.
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