A Bangladesh court on Monday handed former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a death sentence after finding her guilty of crimes against humanity linked to the deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising that removed her from office in August 2024.
The dramatic verdict, delivered before a packed courtroom in Dhaka and broadcast live on national television, sparked cheers from some attendees as Judge Golam Mortuza Mozumder read the ruling.
“All elements constituting crimes against humanity have been established,” the judge declared, announcing that Hasina was guilty on three counts, including incitement, issuing orders to kill, and failing to prevent atrocities. “We hereby impose one sentence — the sentence of death.”
Hasina, 78, was tried in absentia after refusing court directives to return from India to face trial.
She dismissed the proceedings as politically motivated, describing the case in an earlier written interview as “a jurisprudential joke” and insisting that a guilty verdict was “preordained.”
Former Interior Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, also outside the country, received the death penalty on four counts, while former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun—who appeared in court and pleaded guilty—was sentenced to five years in prison.
The trial has exacerbated Bangladesh’s already volatile political climate ahead of elections expected in February 2026.
The United Nations has reported that up to 1,400 people were killed in the security crackdown as Hasina attempted to hold on to power last year, and these deaths formed the backbone of the prosecution’s case.
Chief prosecutor Tajul Islam had earlier expressed confidence that the verdict would bring closure: “We hope this judgment will quench the people’s thirst for justice and help end the cycle of crimes against humanity.”
Bangladesh has seen heightened security in recent days, with armoured vehicles deployed around the court and almost half of Dhaka’s 34,000 police officers placed on duty.
Crude bomb attacks have also escalated across the capital, targeting buildings associated with the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, as well as buses and Christian establishments.
Despite the ruling, the former prime minister has maintained that she is being persecuted. In her October interview, she said: “I mourn all the lives lost during those terrible days,” a comment that angered critics who accused her of using excessive force to prolong her rule.
She also condemned the interim government’s ban on her party, the Awami League, warning that the decision was “deepening the national crisis” in the lead-up to the polls.
Bangladesh recently summoned India’s envoy, urging New Delhi to stop Hasina—whom it labelled a “notorious fugitive”—from granting interviews to the media while in exile.
The court-appointed lawyer representing her reiterated that Hasina does not recognise the court’s authority and rejects all charges.
