Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal has sentenced former PM Sheikh Hasina to death in absentia, ruling that she was responsible for crimes against humanity committed during the student-led uprising of 2024.
The three-member bench, headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Majumder, found that Hasina ordered and oversaw a violent crackdown on protesters demanding political reform. The court also sentenced former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun to death on similar charges.
According to a UN human rights report, as many as 1,400 people were killed between July 15 and August 15, 2024, during what has been described as the “July Uprising.” Chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam said Hasina acted as the mastermind behind the state violence, accusing her of orchestrating murder, torture, attempted murder, and the extermination of civilians.
Hasina, now 78, fled Bangladesh in August 2024 and has been living in India, which has not responded to Dhaka’s formal requests for her extradition. The verdict was delivered amid heightened security across the capital, with army units, riot police, and special forces deployed to prevent unrest.
The interim government has welcomed the ruling and reiterated its demand for Hasina’s return, while political analysts warn that the decision may deepen the country’s already tense political climate.
