The Bangladeshi court sentenced the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, aged 78, to death on Monday (17) for crimes against humanity related to last year’s popular uprising, which killed hundreds of people and put an end to her 15 years of government. “All the elements (…) constituting a crime against humanity are present,” declared Dacca court judge Golam Mortuza Mozumder. “We decided to impose a single penalty, the death penalty,” he added.
The court also sentenced former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan to death in the case, while a third suspect – a former police chief – was sentenced to five years in prison for turning state witness against Sheikh and pleading guilty.
The court’s deliberation in the capital, Dhaka, was broadcast live. The interim government beefed up security ahead of the verdict, with paramilitary border guards and police deployed in Dhaka and many other parts of the country.
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The former Bangladeshi prime minister’s Awami League party called for a nationwide strike to protest the verdict. Sheikh and Khan, who were in exile in India, were tried in absentia. Both she and her party called the court a “fake court” and denounced the State’s appointment of a lawyer to represent her.
She and Khan faced charges of crimes against humanity for the murder of hundreds of people during a student uprising in July and August 2024. A United Nations report released in February said up to 1,400 people may have been killed in the violence, while the interim government’s health adviser said more than 800 people had died and around 14,000 were injured.
Last week, the court had scheduled the verdict for Monday, as reports of homemade bomb explosions and arson led to the disruption of classes and transport across the country following the “lockdown” decreed by Sheikh’s party.
Ahead of the court’s ruling on Monday, the former ruling party called for a strike again, with Sheikh, in an audio message, urging his supporters not to be “nervous about the verdict.
The verdict was handed down following local media reports of further homemade bomb explosions in Dhaka, including one in front of the home of an aide, equivalent to a state minister, on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Dhaka police chief Sheikh Mohammad Sazzat Ali issued a “shoot to kill” order if anyone tries to set vehicles on fire or throw homemade bombs. The directive comes after nearly 50 arson attacks, mostly against vehicles, and dozens of homemade bomb explosions were reported across the country in the last week. Two people died in the arson attacks, according to local press.
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The Supreme Court authorities, in a letter sent to the army headquarters on Sunday, requested the deployment of soldiers in the vicinity of the court before the sentence was read.
Sheikh was deposed on August 5 last year and fled to India. Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Bengali Muhammad Yunus, took over as head of an interim government three days after his fall. Yunus promised to punish Hasina and banned the activities of her party, the Awami League.
Yunus stated that his interim government will hold the next elections in February and that Sheikh’s party will not have the chance to run in the election. Bangladeshi politics under Yunus remains at a crossroads, with few signs of stability. (With information from international agencies)
