DHAKA: A Bangladesh court on Monday sentenced ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to death after finding her guilty of crimes against humanity.
Hasina was “found guilty on three counts”, including incitement, order to kill, and inaction to prevent the atrocities, judge Golam Mortuza Mozumder read to the packed court in Dhaka.
“We have decided to inflict her with only one sentence — that is, a sentence of death.”
Hasina, 78, was convicted in absentia after refusing court orders to return from India, where she has lived in exile since being toppled in August 2024.
Reading out the verdict in a packed Dhaka courtroom — broadcast live on national television — Judge Golam Mortuza Mozumder said:
“All the elements constituting crimes against humanity have been fulfilled.”
Hasina and two senior officials are accused of being the “mastermind and principal architect” of the 2024 crackdown, during which some 1,400 people were killed after demonstrations over a controversial government job quota system spiralled into a mass uprising. The unrest ultimately forced her from office, ending her 15-year rule, which critics say was marked by shrinking civic space and widespread allegations of repression.
The ruling comes months ahead of parliamentary elections expected to be held in early February. Hasina’s Awami League party has been barred from contesting and it is feared that Monday’s verdict could stoke fresh unrest ahead of the vote. The International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes court located in the capital Dhaka, delivered the guilty verdict amid tight security and in Hasina’s absence after she fled to India in August 2024.
Hasina has lived in exile in India since her removal and has not appeared publicly or online. She has rejected all charges, calling the tribunal politically motivated. In an email to the BBC, she said she had “never ordered fire on unarmed civilians” and accused her opponents of controlling the court to secure a predetermined outcome.
Prosecutors, however, maintain that the crackdown constituted a “coordinated, widespread and systematic attack”, alleging that security forces — and armed Awami League members — used lethal force, including from helicopters and drones, to crush the uprising. The interim government repurposed the tribunal after Hasina’s ouster, raising fresh questions about judicial independence.
Her Awami League, now banned, has denounced the trial as a “kangaroo court” and urged supporters to mobilise, prompting fears of renewed unrest in Dhaka.
The verdict carries far-reaching implications. Domestically, it could shape the interim government’s legitimacy and determine whether Hasina’s political future is extinguished or revived. Internationally, the ruling will be watched as a test of Bangladesh’s commitment to due process and could complicate relations with New Delhi, given Hasina’s presence in India.
