Bangladesh: Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death for student protests

The former prime minister of Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity for her suppression of student-led protests that led to her ouster.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing the use of lethal force against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during last year’s unrest.

Hasina, 78, was tried in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) of Bangladesh, having been in exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being behind hundreds of murders during the protests. Hasina has denied all charges and called the trial “biased and politically motivated.”

Bangladesh’s months-long domestic war crimes court was widely expected to find her guilty.

But the verdict marks a pivotal moment for the nation, vindicating protests that were rooted in anger over years of repression under his rule.

It also poses a diplomatic challenge for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested Hasina’s extradition, but Delhi has so far shown no willingness to comply, making her death sentence unlikely to be carried out.

Hasina had ruled Bangladesh for 15 years, overseeing economic progress but increasingly trying to silence the opposition, with politically motivated arrests, disappearances and extrajudicial executions.

The protests forced Hasina to flee and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus was installed as leader of an interim government.

Reacting to Monday’s verdict in a five-page statement, Hasina said the death penalty was the caretaker government’s way of “overriding [her party] the Awami League as a political force” and that she was proud of her government’s record on human rights.

“I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper court where the evidence can be fairly weighed and tested.”

Bangladesh’s interim government called the ruling “historic” and “profound” but called for calm, adding that emotions could run high over the outcome.

Meanwhile, Judge Golam Mortuza Mozumder said Hasina was found guilty of three charges, including incitement, ordering murders and failing to prevent atrocities during the uprising.

“We have decided to impose only one sentence, that is, the death penalty,” he said.

The student-led uprising last year began with demands to abolish government labor quotas, but morphed into a broader anti-government movement.

U.N. human rights investigators said in a February report that the roughly 1,400 deaths could constitute “crimes against humanity.”

The report documented the point-blank shooting of some protesters, the deliberate mutilation of others, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Reacting to Hasina’s sentencing, the UN Human Rights Office said this was an “important moment for the victims” but regretted the “imposition of the death penalty, which we oppose in all circumstances.”

Leaked audio of one of Hasina’s phone calls verified by BBC Eye earlier this year suggested she had authorized the use of “lethal weapons” in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

Before the verdict, the capital Dhaka, where the court was held, was under tight security, and many of Hasina’s critics staged a rally and cheered as the ruling was read.

The city has recently seen an increase in unrest, with dozens of bombs exploded and buses set on fire in the days leading up to the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police officer Jisanul Haque told the BBC.

Relatives of those killed during the protests previously told the BBC they wanted Hasina to be severely punished.

Ramjan Ali, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted “exemplary punishment” for Hasina and others who “committed acts of revenge and abused their power.”

Lucky Akther, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina’s sentence “to be carried out before the election.”

“Only then will the families of the murdered [in the protests] “You will find peace in your hearts.”

Since Hasina’s ouster, an interim government led by economist Muhammad Yunus has taken power. A parliamentary election is scheduled for February 2026.

However, the Awami League, Hasina’s political party, was banned by Bangladesh’s interim government in May.

Hasina warned last month that if the party’s candidates were banned from running in the next election, millions of people would boycott the vote.

Hasina’s state-appointed lawyer, Mohammad Amir Hossain, said he was “saddened.” [and wishes] the verdict had been different.”

“I can’t even appeal because my clients are absent, that’s why I’m sad,” he added.

Last week, Hasina’s lawyers said they had filed an urgent appeal with the UN, raising serious issues of fair trial and due process at the ICT. It says it has “repeatedly challenged” the interim government to bring its charges to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Hasina was tried alongside her former interior minister and police chief.

While the ruling offers some closure to the families of those killed in the protests, it may do little to calm the country’s political divisions.

“The anger against Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not abated,” Shireen Huq, a Dhaka-based human rights activist, told the BBC. “Neither she nor the party have apologized or shown any remorse for the murders of hundreds of people.”

He said it “makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by the majority of people in this country.”

Ms Huq, who is against capital punishment, added that the punishment is not closure for the families of the dead and injured.

“We worked with several people who lost their limbs forever, now they are amputated due to repression. They will never be able to forgive her.”

David Bergman, a journalist and long-time Bangladesh observer, said that “the very nature of the condemnation could make it even more difficult” for the Awami League to once again become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics.

This may change if “there is some kind of apology and distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the old leadership,” he said.