Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, has been sentenced to death after being convicted of crimes against humanity for her role in the violent suppression of student-led protests last year, an uprising that ultimately forced her from power.
A three-member panel of the International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes court, ruled that Hasina was culpable for inciting security forces to carry out hundreds of extrajudicial executions during the nationwide unrest.
CNN reports that the courtroom erupted in applause as the decision was announced.
“Sheikh Hasina committed crimes against humanity by her incitement, order, and failure to take punitive measures,” one of the judges declared while reading the judgment, adding that evidence showed she had directly encouraged members of her ruling party and security agencies to “kill and eliminate” protesting students.
The unrest, initially sparked by civil service job quota reforms, escalated into a massive movement demanding Hasina’s resignation.
A subsequent government crackdown reportedly left up to 1,400 dead and 25,000 injured, according to the UN human rights office.
Hasina was tried on five counts, including ordering lethal force, authorizing hangings of protesters, and deploying drones and helicopters against crowds. She has denied all charges.
The former leader, who governed Bangladesh from 2009 until her ouster in 2024, has been in self-imposed exile in India since August after protesters and the military-backed interim authority removed her Awami League-led administration.
Her legal team has criticized the trial as politically motivated and said it lacked basic due process, submitting an appeal to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on arbitrary executions.
The interim government has requested her extradition from India, but Indian authorities have yet to respond.
Ahead of Monday’s verdict, the capital, Dhaka witnessed renewed violence, with cocktails thrown in parts of the capital on Sunday. Armored vehicles, riot police, border guards and rapid response units were deployed around key locations, including the courthouse.
Hasina’s son told Reuters that supporters of the banned Awami League would block national elections set for February unless the party is reinstated, warning of escalating unrest.
“We will not allow elections without the Awami League, unless the international community intervenes, there will probably be violence in Bangladesh before these elections,” he said. “
Daughter of Bangladesh’s founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s political career began in exile after a 1975 military coup killed most of her immediate family. Returning in 1981, she led the Awami League to election victory in 1996, and again in 2008, ruling until her removal last year.
Her tenure oversaw major economic growth and infrastructure expansion, but critics accused her government of authoritarianism, election rigging, media repression, and human rights abuses. Rights groups documented widespread arrests under cybercrime laws, enforced disappearances, and torture allegations.
The Gen Z-led protest last year succeeded where earlier protests had failed, toppling her administration.
Many Awami League leaders and former ministers have since fled the country, as trials continue against Hasina and senior party officials.
The interim administration, headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, maintains the trials are necessary to restore public trust and rebuild democratic institutions.
