The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for human rights violations stemming from her harsh response on protests led by students which resulted in her removal from power.
The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the unrest in the previous year.
The trial proceeded in absentia by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.
The prosecution alleged 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 decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Next of kin of victims and injured had called for strict sentences.
Answering the judgment in a detailed document, the former leader stated the death penalty was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a governing body and that she was content of her administration's performance on civil liberties.
"I am not afraid to confront those accusing me in a just legal forum where the proof can be evaluated and reviewed impartially."
The capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards before the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics organizing a demonstration and applauding as the verdict was read.
The city has seen a recent spike in disturbances, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the period preceding the verdict.
A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official the authorities' representative informed press agencies.
The student-led uprising in the previous year started with demands to abolish government job quotas but morphed into a more extensive dissent initiative.
United Nations rights examiners stated in a document in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could represent "human rights atrocities".
The study recorded the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the intentional injuring of additional individuals, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment.
Leaked audio of a telephone conversation involving Hasina confirmed by media examinations during the current year indicated she had sanctioned the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.
Ahead of the verdict, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations stated to press outlets they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.
Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".
A different family member, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "implemented before the election".
"Solely at that point the kin of victims [in the protests] will obtain solace in their souls."
Following her removal, an temporary leadership headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A parliamentary election is scheduled for February 2026.
However, the Awami League, Hasina's political party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's interim government in May.
She alerted during the past month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the election.
The judgment creates a diplomatic challenge for India and Bangladesh. Authorities have sought her return but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.
The legal representative assigned to her her legal counsel said he was "unhappy and desiring the outcome had varied".
"I am unable to challenge because my clients are absent; which is why I am sad," he stated further.
The previous week, her legal team said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN highlighting significant due process and due process issues at the ICT.
Legal proceedings involved Hasina alongside her former home minister and top law enforcement officer.
While the sentence offers some closure to families of killed in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the nation's partisan rifts.
"The anger against the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told news organizations. "Both she and the organization has apologised or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."
The activist stated "This complicates matters for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this country."
The advocate continued that the sentence was not resolution for the kin of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.
"We support several people who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, due to the crackdown. They will never be able to forgive her."
A journalist, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it even more difficult" for her party to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.
This might transform if "an expression of regret occurs and a disassociation with the former leader and the old leadership," he stated.
