🔗 Share this article

The country's previous leader has been handed capital punishment for human rights violations stemming from her harsh response on student-led protests which resulted in her forced departure.

Hasina was declared culpable of authorizing deadly measures to be used against demonstrators, 1,400 of whom lost their lives during the turmoil last year.

Hasina was tried in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being responsible for numerous deaths during the protests. She has refuted all charges, labeling the proceedings as "biased and politically motivated".

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

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, Hasina said the capital punishment was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was content of her administration's performance on human rights.

"I have no trepidation to confront those accusing me in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under tightened security ahead of the ruling on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and celebrating as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a notable rise in turmoil, with multiple explosives detonated and coaches ignited in the time before the verdict.

One explosive incident was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official the authorities' representative stated to press agencies.

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

UN human rights investigators said in a report in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could constitute "crimes against humanity".

The paper detailed the firing at close quarters of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of others, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls confirmed by external reviews during the current year implied she had approved the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the trial.

Before the decision, relatives of those fatally injured in the unrest stated to news agencies they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

A family representative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and exploited their positions".

A different family member, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "executed before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the families of those killed [in the protests] will obtain solace in their souls."

Since Hasina's ousting, an interim government under the guidance of economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A parliamentary election is set for February 2026.

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

She alerted in the previous month that if the her faction's nominees were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, millions would boycott the vote.

The verdict now poses a international dilemma for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but so far India has demonstrated no inclination to comply.

Her officially designated attorney Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the outcome had varied".

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

Last week, the defense attorneys said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN pointing out major judicial fairness and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina alongside her former home minister and police chief.

Even though the verdict provides certain resolution to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the her political party has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to press agencies. "Neither she nor the party has apologised or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

The advocate declared "This complicates matters for the faction to gain approval by a most citizens in this state."

The campaigner further stated that the penalty was not finality for the families of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We assist numerous persons who suffered permanent amputations, they are amputees now, due to the crackdown. They will never be able to forgive her."

David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it even more difficult" for the political faction to become a regular participant of the country's governance system again.

This could alter if "an expression of regret occurs and a separation from Hasina and the previous administration," he stated.