Bangladesh's Ousted Leader Sheikh Hasina Given to Death Penalty

Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for atrocities due to her crackdown on protests led by students which led to her ousting.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the turmoil during 2024.

Legal proceedings were conducted in absentia by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being responsible for hundreds of killings during the protests. She has refuted every accusation, labeling the proceedings as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The verdict marks a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over extended periods of oppression. Families of those killed and harmed had requested tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, she expressed the death penalty was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was content of her administration's performance on individual freedoms.

"I have no trepidation to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the proof can be evaluated and examined justly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards prior to the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors holding a protest and celebrating as the verdict was read.

The city has seen a notable rise in turmoil, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the time before the verdict.

One explosive incident was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official Jisanul Haque told press agencies.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 started with calls to eliminate public sector reservation policies but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could represent "crimes against humanity".

The paper detailed the shooting at point-blank range of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of further participants, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment.

Leaked audio of a call made by the former leader authenticated by external reviews earlier this year implied she had authorized the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the trial.

Before the decision, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations told news agencies they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

Another relative, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "carried out before the election".

"Only then the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

After her departure, an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A parliamentary election is planned for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the her former political organization, Hasina's political party, was banned by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

Hasina warned in the previous month that if the party's candidates were banned from standing in the forthcoming vote, millions would boycott the election.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. Authorities have sought her return but so far India has expressed no readiness to agree.

Her officially designated attorney her legal counsel said he was "sad [and wishes] the verdict had been different".

"I cannot even contest because my represented individuals are away; that's why I am disheartened," he stated further.

Recently, Hasina's lawyers said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN raising serious fair trial and due process issues at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial together with her ex-interior minister and security forces head.

Even though the verdict offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the nation's partisan rifts.

"The anger against Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not decreased," a Dhaka-based rights activist informed press agencies. "Both she and the organization has apologised or demonstrated contrition for the fatalities of countless citizens."

She said "This complicates matters for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this country."

The campaigner further stated that the penalty was not finality for the families of those killed and injured.

"We support numerous persons who suffered permanent amputations, they are currently without limbs, due to the crackdown. They are incapable of excusing her."

A journalist, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it even more difficult" for Awami League to become a normal feature of the nation's political landscape again.

This may change if "there is some kind of apology and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the previous administration," he said.