A SPECIAL tribunal in Bangladesh has sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death after a months-long trial that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year.
The International Crimes Tribunal in capital Dhaka, which tried Hasina, 78, and two others for charges related to crimes against humanity, handed down the sentence on Monday.
The United Nations says up to 1,400 people were killed and thousands injured as Hasina’s government cracked down on protesters last year in a desperate bid to cling to power.
The highly anticipated ruling, which was broadcast live on national television, came less than three months before the first elections in the South Asian country of 170 million people since her overthrow and escape to India in August 2024.
“All the… elements constituting crimes against humanity have been fulfilled,” judge Golam Mortuza Mozumder read to the court in Dhaka, finding the former leader guilty on three counts: incitement, order to kill, and inaction to prevent the atrocities.
“We have decided to inflict her with only one sentence – that is, sentence of death.”
Former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan was also sentenced to death in absentia after being found guilty on four counts of crimes against humanity, while former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who was in court and had pleaded guilty, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.
People in the packed courtroom – including families of victims – cheered and clapped, and some in the crowds outside sank to their knees and offered up prayers after the verdict, the harshest against a leader in the country’s history.
In a statement after her conviction, Hasina said the charges were unjustified, arguing that she and Khan “acted in good faith and were trying to minimise the loss of life”.
“We lost control of the situation, but to characterise what happened as a premeditated assault on citizens is simply to misread the facts,” she said, denouncing the verdict as “biased and politically motivated”.
“I mourn all of the deaths that occurred in July and August of last year, on both sides of the political divide,” she said. “But neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters.”
Hasina, who dismissed the court as a “rigged tribunal”, cannot appeal the verdict unless she surrenders or is arrested within 30 days of the judgment.
Bangladesh’s interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, described the verdict as “historic”, but called for calm and warned that it would deal with any disorder.
Earlier, police clashed with protesters demanding the demolition of what remains of the house of Hasina’s father and independence hero, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Much of the structure was destroyed during the protests last year.
Police and paramilitary forces were deployed around government buildings and the tribunal complex, and there was tight security across the capital and other major cities.
The verdict came ahead of elections in February and Hasina’s son Sajeed Wazed warned on Sunday there could be violence if a ban on her Awami League party was not lifted.
The UN on Monday said while Hasina’s sentencing marked “an important moment for victims”, she should not have been sentenced to death.
UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani raised concerns that the trial held in absentia may not have met all international due process and fair trial standards, adding: “We also regret the imposition of the death penalty, which we oppose in all circumstances.”
The Bangladeshi foreign ministry urged India to “immediately hand over” Hasina and Khan, calling it “an obligatory responsibility”. India said it noted the verdict and would “engage constructively”, without commenting on their extradition.
Al Jazeera’s Tanvir Chowdhury, reporting from Dhaka, said it is “highly unlikely” that India will extradite Hasina.
“Hasina’s son has spoken in the media, saying she’ll never be extradited – that the Indians will ensure her security,” he said. “This could cause a diplomatic problem between the two countries, whose relations are already at a low point.”