Bangladesh's Deposed Leader Sheikh Hasina Sentenced to Capital Punishment

The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for atrocities due to her harsh response on protests led by students which led to her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the unrest last year.

Legal proceedings were conducted in absentia by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being responsible for numerous deaths during the protests. She has refuted every accusation, labeling the proceedings as "unfair and agenda-driven".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Families of those killed and injured had requested strict sentences.

Answering the judgment in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the capital punishment was the caretaker administration's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was proud of her government's record on human rights.

"I do not fear to meet my challengers in a fair court where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under increased safeguards ahead of the decision on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina holding a protest and cheering as the judgment was announced.

Dhaka experienced a recent spike in turmoil, with dozens of bombs exploded and coaches ignited in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, area law enforcement officer the police spokesperson told news organizations.

The student-led uprising last year started with requests to remove state employment quotas but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

UN human rights investigators declared in an analysis in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could constitute "human rights atrocities".

The report documented the gunfire from minimal distance of some protesters, the purposeful disabling of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of one of Hasina's phone calls verified by investigative sources in previous months suggested she had approved the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the legal process.

Before the decision, relatives of those killed during the protests told press outlets they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

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

Another relative, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "executed before the election".

"Only then the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will achieve closure in their souls."

Following her removal, an temporary leadership headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Awami League, the former ruling party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

She alerted in the previous month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the imminent electoral process, numerous would avoid the vote.

This decision presents a diplomatic challenge for the neighboring countries. Dhaka has formally requested her repatriation but to date India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer the defense lawyer said he was "unhappy and desiring the verdict had been different".

"I am unable to challenge because my represented individuals are away; that's why I am disappointed," he stated further.

The previous week, Hasina's lawyers said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN raising serious fair trial and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial together with her ex-interior minister and top law enforcement officer.

Although the punishment provides certain resolution to kin of victims in the protests, it may do little to soothe the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the her political party has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told press agencies. "Both she and the organization has expressed regret or shown any remorse for the fatalities of countless citizens."

She said "This creates challenges for the party to be accepted by a majority of people in this country."

The advocate continued that the sentence was not resolution for the families of those who died and were wounded.

"We support numerous persons who suffered permanent amputations, they are now disabled, due to the crackdown. They cannot pardon her."

David Bergman, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it even more difficult" for her party to become a normal feature of the nation's political landscape again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the former hierarchy," he expressed.