A former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, has been sentenced to death by a war crimes court for her involvement in a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year. This significant ruling against a former Bangladeshi leader comes ahead of anticipated parliamentary elections in early February, with Hasina’s party, the Awami League, already banned from participation, raising concerns of potential unrest prior to the vote.
The verdict was delivered by the International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes court in Dhaka, while Hasina was absent, having fled to India in August 2024. The court handed her a life sentence for crimes against humanity and a death sentence for her role in the deaths of several individuals during the uprising, prompting applause and cheers in the courtroom.
A Bangladesh war crimes court sentenced the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to death. The sentencing concludes a months-long trial that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year.
The verdict is subject to appeal in the nation’s Supreme Court. Responding to the ruling, Hasina criticized the tribunal as biased and politically driven, alleging that it was orchestrated by an unelected government to eliminate her as the last elected prime minister and undermine the Awami League’s political influence.
Worst violence since 1971
During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence of Hasina’s direct orders to use lethal force to suppress the student-led protests in 2024, resulting in an estimated 1,400 fatalities and numerous injuries, predominantly inflicted by security forces. This unrest marked the most severe violence in Bangladesh since the nation’s war of independence in 1971.
After a month of violent unrest, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country. Andrew Chang explains how student-led protests over a government job quota turned into a massive and deadly movement that eventually toppled the government.
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