Dhaka: Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal on Monday sentenced deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina to death after ruling that she was responsible for crimes against humanity linked to the student-led uprising of August 2024, which ultimately brought down her Awami League government.
The three-member bench also pronounced verdicts against two of her close associates — former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun. Al-Mamun was produced before the tribunal and was spared the death penalty after turning state witness.
According to the judgment, Hasina was “found guilty on three counts,” which included obstructing justice, ordering the killing of demonstrators, and failing to prevent retaliatory killings.
Delivering the ruling to a packed courtroom, Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder stated: “We have resolved to impose a single sentence — the sentence of death.”
Tribunal’s Observations
The tribunal observed that Hasina had instructed security forces to use helicopters, drones, and deadly weapons against student protesters. This directive, issued during a phone call with the mayor of South Dhaka Municipal Corporation, was confirmed as authentic through forensic analysis of the submitted CD and audio recording.
The court further noted that Hasina had ordered the killing of protesting students, citing documented conversations between her and the Dhaka University vice-chancellor.
In its observations, the tribunal highlighted that Hasina had dismissed the student movement and allegedly referred to Dhaka University students as “Razakars,” a term that further inflamed the agitation.
According to the verdict, on the night after July 14, 2024, Hasina told the university vice-chancellor:
“I have hanged Razakars; they [the protesters] will also be hanged. None of them will be spared. I am ordering their arrest and action.”
The judges concluded that Hasina, the former home minister, and the ex-police chief acted jointly to suppress and eliminate protesters.
The tribunal also found that Hasina had delivered hate-filled instructions and, in a phone conversation with an aide named Shakeel, allegedly directed him to kill 226 individuals associated with cases filed against her.
The landmark judgment marks a dramatic chapter in Bangladesh’s political and judicial history.
