DHAKA: Bangladesh is bracing for a pivotal verdict in the crimes against humanity trial of ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, with prosecutors confirming that the judgment could be delivered later this month.
The case — which has gripped the nation since her removal from power in 2024 — accuses Hasina of ordering mass killings to crush a student-led uprising, with prosecutors seeking the death penalty if she is found guilty.
Confusion over the timing of the verdict arose after the trial ended last month, when a hearing was set for November 13.
But Thursday’s hearing was only “to announce the date of the verdict”, said Gazi Monowar Hossain Tamim, prosecutor at Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal.
“Based on our previous experience, the court might take another week or so to deliver the verdict,” Tamim said. “We want to make it clear that the court is set to fix the date of the verdict on November 13.”
Bangladesh has been in political turmoil since a deadly uprising toppled Hasina’s autocratic government in August 2024. Violence has marked the campaign trail for elections expected in February 2026.
According to AFP, Hasina, 78, has defied court orders to return from India to attend her trial on charges of ordering a deadly crackdown in a failed attempt to suppress the student-led uprising.
Her trial in absentia, which began on June 1, heard months of testimony alleging she ordered mass killings.
According to the United Nations, up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024.
Prosecutors have filed five charges, including failure to prevent murder, amounting to crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law. They have sought the death penalty if she is found guilty.
Hasina has denied all the charges and called her trial a “jurisprudential joke”.
Her co-accused include former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal — also a fugitive — and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who is in custody and has pleaded guilty.
Hasina’s outlawed Awami League called for a nationwide “lockdown” on Thursday, and security agencies in Bangladesh have been placed on alert.
