🔗 Share this article

Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for human rights violations over her harsh response on youth demonstrations which resulted in her ousting.

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against demonstrators, among whom around 1,400 people lost their lives during the turmoil in the previous year.

The trial proceeded without her presence by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being behind numerous deaths during the protests. She has refuted all charges, labeling the proceedings as "unfair and agenda-driven".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over years of repression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had requested tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, she expressed the death penalty was the caretaker administration's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was content of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I have no trepidation to confront those accusing me in a fair court where the facts can be assessed and tested fairly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under tightened security before the ruling on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally and applauding as the verdict was read.

The city has seen a notable rise in disturbances, with dozens of bombs exploded and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

One explosive incident was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, regional security representative the authorities' representative told media outlets.

The youth-driven revolt last year began with demands to abolish government job quotas but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

United Nations rights examiners said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could amount to "crimes against humanity".

The study recorded the shooting at point-blank range of some protesters, the purposeful disabling of further participants, arbitrary arrests and abuse.

Leaked audio of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by investigative sources earlier this year indicated she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the legal process.

Ahead of the verdict, family members of those who died in the demonstrations stated to press outlets they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

A family representative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

Another relative, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "carried out before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their souls."

After her departure, an temporary leadership led by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

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

The former leader cautioned in the previous month that if the party's candidates were banned from standing in the imminent electoral process, numerous would avoid the vote.

The verdict now poses a diplomatic challenge for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but until now India has expressed no readiness to agree.

The legal representative assigned to her Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "disappointed and hoping the verdict had been different".

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

Recently, Hasina's lawyers said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN highlighting significant due process and due process issues at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina alongside her former home minister and security forces head.

While the sentence offers some closure to families of killed in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the state's ideological splits.

"The resentment towards the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed press agencies. "Neither she nor the party has expressed regret or demonstrated contrition for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "This complicates matters for the organization to receive endorsement by a majority of people in this nation."

The campaigner further stated that the sentence was not resolution for the kin of those killed and injured.

"We work with numerous persons who lost their limbs forever, they are currently without limbs, due to the crackdown. They are incapable of excusing her."

An analyst, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for the political faction to become a normal feature of the country's governance system again.

This might transform if "there is some kind of apology and a distancing from Hasina and the previous administration," he said.