🔗 Share this article

The country's previous leader has been handed capital punishment for atrocities stemming from her harsh response on youth demonstrations which led to her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against demonstrators, 1,400 of whom lost their lives during the unrest last year.

The trial proceeded without her presence by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being responsible for numerous deaths during the protests. Hasina has denied all charges, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over extended periods of oppression. Relatives of the deceased and wounded had called for tough penalties.

Responding to the decision in a detailed document, Hasina said the execution sentence was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a governing body and that she was content of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I do not fear to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under increased safeguards ahead of the decision on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina holding a protest and applauding as the sentence was declared.

The capital witnessed a recent spike in turmoil, with multiple explosives detonated and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

One explosive incident was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, regional security representative the police spokesperson told media outlets.

The youth-driven revolt in the previous year commenced through requests to remove government job quotas but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could constitute "human rights atrocities".

The paper detailed the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the intentional injuring of additional individuals, unwarranted detentions and abuse.

Leaked audio of a telephone conversation involving Hasina verified by media examinations during the current year implied she had authorized the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the trial.

Before the decision, family members of those fatally injured in the unrest told press outlets they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

A family representative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for her and co-accused who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

Another relative, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "implemented before the election".

"Only then the kin of victims [in the protests] will obtain solace in their souls."

Following her removal, an temporary leadership under the guidance of economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Awami League, Hasina's political party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

The former leader cautioned in the previous month that if the her faction's nominees were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, millions would boycott the election.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Authorities have sought her repatriation but to date India has expressed no readiness to comply.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer her legal counsel said he was "unhappy and desiring the outcome had varied".

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; for that reason I am disheartened," he stated further.

Last week, the defense attorneys said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN highlighting significant due process and due process issues at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina alongside her former home minister and police chief.

Even though the verdict offers some closure to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the state's ideological splits.

"The resentment towards Sheikh Hasina and the her political party has not diminished," a Dhaka-based rights activist told media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has apologised or demonstrated contrition for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The activist stated "This complicates matters for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this country."

The activist added that the punishment was not finality for the kin of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We work with several people who suffered permanent amputations, they are now disabled, as a result of the harsh measures. They will never be able to forgive her."

A journalist, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it particularly hard" for the political faction to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This could alter if "an expression of regret occurs and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the former hierarchy," he expressed.