Bangladesh's Deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Given to Death

The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for atrocities due to her severe measures on student-led protests which resulted in her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom were killed during the unrest last year.

The trial proceeded without her presence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. She has refuted the entire case, labeling the proceedings as "unfair and agenda-driven".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over years of repression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had called for severe punishments.

Responding to the decision in a detailed document, the former leader stated the death penalty was the interim government's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a political force and that she was content of her government's record on human rights.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under increased safeguards prior to the verdict on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and cheering as the judgment was announced.

Dhaka experienced a sudden increase in unrest, with multiple explosives detonated and coaches ignited in the days leading up to the verdict.

One explosive incident was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official the authorities' representative told news organizations.

The protest movement led by students last year began with requests to remove government job quotas but morphed into a broader opposition campaign.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could constitute "violations of human dignity".

The paper detailed the firing at close quarters of a number of activists, the intentional injuring of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and abuse.

Leaked audio of a call made by the former leader verified by external reviews in previous months implied she had authorized the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the trial.

Ahead of the verdict, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations informed press outlets they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

A family representative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for the former leader and associates who have "performed revengeful deeds and misused their authority".

A different family member, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "implemented before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the kin of victims [in the protests] will obtain solace in their minds."

Following her removal, an temporary leadership headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A parliamentary election is set for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Hasina's political party, the former ruling party, was banned by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

Hasina warned in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the imminent electoral process, millions would boycott the election.

The verdict now poses a international dilemma for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her repatriation but until now India has shown no willingness to acquiesce.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer the defense lawyer said he was "sad [and wishes] the verdict had been different".

"I am unable to challenge because my clients are absent; which is why I am sad," he added.

Recently, the defense attorneys said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising significant due process and due process issues at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina together with her previous domestic affairs official and top law enforcement officer.

While the sentence offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may do little to soothe the state's ideological splits.

"The anger against the former leader and the her political party has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed press agencies. "Neither she nor the party has expressed regret or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

The advocate declared "It makes it difficult for the faction to gain approval by a bulk of the population in this country."

The campaigner further stated that the sentence was not finality for the kin of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We assist numerous persons who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They are incapable of excusing her."

A journalist, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it particularly hard" for Awami League to become a normal feature of the nation's political landscape again.

This may change if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the former hierarchy," he said.