Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death by a special tribunal on charges of crimes against humanity linked to her government’s violent crackdown on a massive student uprising last year. The Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal also handed a death sentence to former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan for his alleged role in authorizing lethal force against demonstrators. Both fled to India in 2024 and were tried in absentia.
A third defendant, the country’s former police chief, avoided harsher punishment after turning state witness and pleading guilty. He received a five-year prison sentence.
The charges stem from large-scale protests in July and August 2024 that ultimately toppled Hasina’s 15-year rule. Bangladesh’s interim government estimates more than 800 people were killed and roughly 14,000 injured, while a United Nations report suggested the death toll may have been as high as 1,400. The tribunal ruled that Hasina and Khan were responsible for the mass casualties resulting from the state’s response.
Hasina condemned the verdict as “biased and politically motivated,” saying she and Khan acted “in good faith” amid chaos and were attempting to minimize casualties. She criticized the tribunal as unlawful and controlled by an interim government lacking democratic legitimacy. India has not responded to Bangladesh’s requests to extradite her, making it unlikely she will return to face the sentence.
The ruling comes as Bangladesh continues to navigate political instability following Hasina’s ouster on August 5, 2024. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus assumed leadership of the interim government shortly afterward, pledging accountability for the violence and banning Hasina’s Awami League from political activity. The tribunal’s judgement, announced by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder in a televised session, drew cheers from some in the courtroom — prompting the judge to admonish observers to maintain decorum.
Security across Dhaka and other regions was heightened ahead of the announcement, with police and paramilitary units deployed. Supporters and families of those killed in the uprising gathered outside the courthouse for hours awaiting the decision. In response to the ruling, the Awami League called for a nationwide shutdown, deepening tensions as the country remains sharply divided over Hasina’s legacy and the legitimacy of the interim leadership.
