🔗 Share this article

The country's previous leader has been handed capital punishment for crimes against humanity stemming from her crackdown on protests led by students which resulted in her ousting.

Hasina was declared culpable of authorizing deadly measures to be used against demonstrators, 1,400 of whom died during the disturbances in the previous year.

Legal proceedings were conducted while she was absent by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being responsible for multiple fatalities during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The verdict marks a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had demanded severe punishments.

Responding to the decision in a detailed document, Hasina said the execution sentence was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was proud of her leadership's history on human rights.

"I do not fear to confront those accusing me in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security before the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and celebrating as the sentence was declared.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in disturbances, with dozens of bombs exploded and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

One explosive incident was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police official the authorities' representative stated to news organizations.

The protest movement led by students in the previous year started with demands to abolish public sector reservation policies but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

International human rights monitors stated in a document in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could constitute "violations of human dignity".

The study recorded the shooting at point-blank range of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of one of Hasina's phone calls confirmed by external reviews during the current year indicated she had approved the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the legal process.

Before the decision, kin of those fatally injured in the unrest informed media representatives they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

A family representative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "performed revengeful deeds and exploited their positions".

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

"Solely at that point the kin of victims [in the protests] will find peace in their hearts."

After her departure, an caretaker administration headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

However, the Hasina's political party, Hasina's political party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

Hasina warned last month that if the party's candidates were prohibited from running in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the ballot.

The judgment creates a international dilemma for the neighboring countries. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

Her officially designated attorney the defense lawyer said he was "sad [and wishes] the decision had been otherwise".

"I cannot even contest because my represented individuals are away; that's why I am disheartened," he continued.

Last week, her legal team said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN pointing out significant due process and due process issues at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial alongside her former home minister and police chief.

Even though the verdict offers some closure to families of killed in the protests, it may not significantly ease the nation's partisan rifts.

"The anger against Hasina and the Awami League has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to press agencies. "The leader and her faction has apologised or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "It makes it difficult for the faction to gain approval by a bulk of the population in this nation."

The activist added that the sentence was not finality for the families of those who died and were wounded.

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

David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for Awami League to become a regular participant of the nation's political landscape again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from Hasina and the old leadership," he expressed.