Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death.
A special tribunal found she was responsible for ordering a violent crackdown on student-led protests last year, during which the UN estimates up to 1,400 people died, most by gunfire from security forces.
Hasina, 78, was tried in her absence as she is living in exile in India, where she has been since being forced from power.
A three-judge bench of the country’s international crimes tribunal convicted Hasina of crimes including murder, extermination, torture and other inhumane acts.
Reading the verdict to the court, Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder said the ‘accused prime minister committed crimes against humanity by her order to use drones, helicopters and lethal weapons’.
Hasina had pleaded not guilty to the charges and alleged the tribunal was a ‘politically motivated charade’.
Security was ramped up across Bangladesh on Monday morning due to fears of protest, as family members of those killed during the 2024 uprising broke down in tears in the Dhaka courtroom.
A death sentence was also handed to the former home minister, Asaduzzaman Khan, her co-accused in the trial.
Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death
Hasina, physically absent from the trial, remained defiant in an audio message recorded prior to the verdict.
‘Let them announce whatever verdict they want. It doesn’t matter to me. Allah gave me this life and only he can end it. I will still serve my people,’ she said.
As the sentences were announced, cheers and applause erupted both inside and outside the court, as a small group of people chanted for the guilty to be hanged.
The Bangladeshi capital remained highly vigilant in the run-up to the historic decision, with paramilitaries cordoning off the tribunal area and police ordered to ‘shoot-on-sight’ if anyone was found setting fire to vehicles or using explosives.
The protest that led to Hasina’s downfall started as a student movement but escalated into a nationwide uprising, which as now been dubbed the ‘July revolution’, against her authoritarian rule.
Her decade-and-a-half in power were viewed as a deadly reign of terror by many across Bangladesh as she was associated with corruption, torture and enforced disappearances, which were all documented by the United Nations as well as several human rights organisations.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
