A special court in Bangladesh has sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death in absentia. Hasina, 78, who was blamed for a security forces crackdown on protesters last year, was found guilty of crimes against humanity.
The court heard evidence from multiple agencies that he gave direct orders to use lethal force to quell student-led uprisings in July and August 2024. According to the UN, 1,400 people were killed.
Hasina, who has lived in India since her escape, denies the allegations. He previously described the process as a “farce”. On Monday he spoke of the process being “politically motivated”. However, representatives of the protest movement welcomed the verdict. “We suffered under killer Hasina and her regime for 16 years,” student activist Rezaye Rabbi Zayed told FAZ. “Today is the day justice is served.”
The government demands extradition
The announcement of the verdict was accompanied by tensions in Dhaka and other cities. According to local media, several explosive devices had gone off in the Bangladeshi capital in previous days. This decision is deemed impossible to enforce. Bangladesh’s interim government under the leadership of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus has repeatedly called for extradition. Hasina herself refuses any collaboration with the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), which she once founded. The country’s former home minister, who is also said to be in India, was also charged. In addition, the former police chief was also present in court, who had cooperated and could therefore hope for leniency.
In 2024, young demonstrators initially opposed the reintroduction of quotas for filling government posts, which they believed would primarily benefit supporters of the Awami League, Hasina’s party. With her uncompromising attitude towards the protesters, Hasina further inflamed the atmosphere. He called the demonstrators “Razakars,” meaning people who had collaborated with Pakistan in the 1971 war of independence. The confrontation became more intense with the first death due to police shooting.
Opposition members disappeared
The politician and daughter of freedom fighter and founding father Mujibur Rahman, who was once the victim of an assassination attempt, is also known in her homeland as the “Iron Lady”. Opposition groups and human rights organizations accuse them of an authoritarian style of government. Many people disappeared during his reign. There were reports of secret prisons where opponents of the regime were held without trial. Human rights activists have also repeatedly accused security forces under his leadership of torture and extrajudicial killings.
The death sentence could overshadow the parliamentary elections that Yunus, 85, is planning in February next year. The convicted prime minister’s son, Sajeeb Wazed, who lives in America, recently threatened violence in connection with the elections. He said Awami League supporters would block the polls if the ban on his party was not lifted.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), a long-standing rival of the Awami League, is the favorite in this election. But the Islamist group Jamaat-e-Islami, banned under Hasina’s rule, is also gaining popularity. In addition, the Citizens’ Party (NCP), founded by student protesters, will stand in elections for the first time.
