DHAKA, Bangladesh (BN24) — Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia Monday after a special tribunal ruled she ordered a violent suppression of student-led protests last year, a crackdown that left hundreds dead and ultimately brought down her 15-year rule.
The International Crimes Tribunal in Dhaka found the 78-year-old ex-leader guilty of multiple counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, extermination, torture, and other inhumane acts. The court concluded she directed security forces and party activists to unleash lethal fire on protesters who had begun demonstrating over civil service quotas before the movement exploded into a nationwide revolt demanding her resignation.
Prosecutors said the demonstrations spiraled into one of the deadliest periods in Bangladesh’s recent political history. The tribunal heard that more than 800 people were killed in July and August 2024, according to the interim government’s health adviser, while a United Nations report earlier estimated the toll could reach as high as 1,400. Thousands more were wounded, with some 25,000 injured in violence that swept the country and paralyzed public life.
The judges said it was “crystal clear” from evidence and testimony that Hasina had “expressed her incitement” to supporters and “ordered to kill and eliminate the protesting students,” accusing her of failing to halt abuses committed by security forces acting under her authority. The verdict, delivered in a live broadcast, sentenced Hasina not only to death but also to imprisonment until her natural death for additional crimes related to her directives to use helicopters, drones, and live ammunition against demonstrators.
Hasina, who ruled Bangladesh from 2009 until her removal on Aug. 5, 2024, has lived in self-imposed exile in New Delhi since fleeing across the border as protesters overran parts of Dhaka and forced the Awami League government from power. She and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, who received the same sentence, were both tried in absentia. A former police chief who cooperated with prosecutors and testified against her was given a five-year prison term.
Hasina sharply rejected the charges in a statement released Monday, calling the judgment “biased and politically motivated.” She argued that she and her government “acted in good faith” in a chaotic environment and claimed they were attempting to limit casualties rather than provoke them. “To characterize what happened as a premeditated assault on citizens is simply to misread the facts,” she said.
Her lawyers have criticized the proceedings, saying they lacked due process and violated fair-trial standards. They appealed to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions last week, warning of serious irregularities. Hasina cannot formally appeal the ruling unless she surrenders or is arrested within 30 days, an unlikely scenario given India’s refusal so far to extradite her despite requests from Bangladesh’s interim government.
The tribunal’s judgment triggered immediate political fallout. Her Awami League party called for a nationwide shutdown on Tuesday, while supporters and detractors clashed in parts of Dhaka. In several neighborhoods, police used batons and stun grenades to disperse crowds as authorities deployed soldiers, paramilitary forces, and border guards around sensitive sites, including the Supreme Court and the tribunal building.
Interim government leader and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus welcomed the ruling, saying it affirmed that “no one, regardless of power, is above the law.” He condemned Hasina’s use of lethal force against students and minors, saying their only weapons had been “their voices.” Her longtime political rival, Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, also hailed the verdict, describing it as the symbolic end of “all forms of dictatorship on this country’s soil.”
The tensions have strained relations with India. Bangladesh’s Foreign and Home Affairs ministries publicly urged New Delhi to extradite Hasina and Khan, calling it a treaty obligation and warning that granting them asylum would be “demeaning to justice.” India acknowledged the verdict but did not respond to the extradition demand, saying only that it remained committed to supporting peace and stability for the Bangladeshi people.
As the courtroom erupted with cheers when the death sentence was read, Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder admonished spectators to maintain decorum. Outside, families of those killed and injured in last year’s uprising waited for hours, seeking closure in a country still reeling from political upheaval, Islamist mobilization, and human rights concerns.
Crowds later gathered near the Dhanmondi home of Hasina’s father, independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, now a museum. Some brought excavators to continue demolition work begun during earlier unrest, lighting fires as police struggled to disperse them well into the night.
The student protests that sparked Hasina’s downfall began with anger over a quota system for government jobs that critics said unfairly favored Awami League loyalists. The government’s attempt to crush the demonstrations instead intensified the movement, transforming what started as a youth-driven grievance into a national revolt that ended one of the longest uninterrupted political reigns in Bangladesh’s history.
The tribunal’s ruling now sets the stage for renewed political turmoil ahead of elections planned for February, leaving the country at a critical crossroads as it confronts the legacy of a deadly crackdown that reshaped its future.
