🔗 Share this article

The country's previous leader has been handed capital punishment for atrocities stemming from her severe measures on student-led protests which led to her removal from power.

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

Legal proceedings were conducted without her presence by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India following her ouster in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, describing the process as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Families of those killed and injured had demanded strict sentences.

Answering the judgment in a detailed document, Hasina said the execution sentence was the interim government's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was content of her government's record on human rights.

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

The capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under enhanced protection ahead of the verdict on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and applauding as the sentence was declared.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in turmoil, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the period preceding the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police official the authorities' representative told press agencies.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 began with requests to remove government job quotas but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could amount to "human rights atrocities".

The report documented the firing at close quarters of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of further participants, unwarranted detentions and mistreatment.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina confirmed by external reviews earlier this year suggested she had authorized the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the legal process.

Before the decision, relatives of those killed during the protests told media representatives they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

One relative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for her and co-accused who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

Lucky Akther, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "implemented before the election".

"Only then the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their souls."

Since Hasina's ousting, an interim government under the guidance of economic expert Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A parliamentary election is planned for February 2026.

However, the her former political organization, her political faction, was prohibited by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

Hasina warned last month that if the the League's representatives were banned from standing in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the vote.

The verdict now poses a diplomatic challenge for India and Bangladesh. Authorities have sought her repatriation but so far India has demonstrated no inclination to acquiesce.

Her officially designated attorney Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "sad [and wishes] the decision had been otherwise".

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

The previous week, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising serious fair trial and due process issues at the ICT.

Hasina was tried in conjunction with her previous domestic affairs official and police chief.

While the sentence grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may do little to soothe the country's political divisions.

"The anger against Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not diminished," a Dhaka-based rights activist informed media outlets. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or shown any remorse for the deaths of numerous individuals."

She said "This complicates matters for the party to be accepted by a bulk of the population in this nation."

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

"We work with numerous persons who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are currently without limbs, because of the suppression. They are incapable of excusing her."

David Bergman, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it increasingly challenging" for the political faction to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "there is some kind of apology and a distancing from the former leader and the old leadership," he expressed.