A dramatic ruling in Dhaka has shaken South Asia, as Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina is condemned to death in absentia for crimes against humanity linked to a brutal crackdown that toppled her regime.
Bangladesh’s deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death in absentia by a court in Dhaka for crimes against humanity over a deadly crackdown on a student led uprising last year. A three judge bench of the country’s international crimes tribunal convicted Hasina of murder, extermination, torture and other inhumane acts after finding that she ordered a violent response to anti government protesters. Reading the verdict, Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder stated that the “accused prime minister committed crimes against humanity by her order to use drones, helicopters and lethal weapons”.
Hasina pleaded not guilty and called the tribunal a “politically motivated charade”. The tribunal tried her in absentia after she fled the country in August last year. Since then she has lived in exile under protection in neighbouring India, whose government has ignored requests from Dhaka for her extradition. Family members of protesters killed during the uprising wept as the judges handed death sentences to Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, her co accused.
Hasina’s absence was striking. In an audio message recorded before the verdict, she declared, “Let them announce whatever verdict they want. It doesn’t matter to me. Allah gave me this life and only he can end it. I will still serve my people.” Security was tightened across Dhaka ahead of the ruling, with police, army and paramilitaries cordoning off the tribunal. Police issued a shoot on sight order for anyone caught hurling crude bombs or setting vehicles on fire. On Monday morning, a small explosive was thrown near the court, causing panic and prompting a total lockdown.
The protest that toppled Hasina began as a student movement and escalated into a nationwide uprising known as the July revolution. Many viewed Hasina’s fifteen years in power as authoritarian rule marked by corruption, torture and enforced disappearances documented by human rights groups and the UN. Her crackdown included live ammunition used against civilians, with the UN estimating up to 1,400 deaths during the uprising, the worst political violence since Bangladesh’s 1971 independence war.
Her prosecution was a central promise of the interim government led by Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus, who appointed Mohammad Tajul Islam as chief prosecutor to build the case before the tribunal.
