E-Paper
‘Killings under her orders…’: Inside court’s damning verdict on Sheikh Hasina | Watch
The charges Sheikh Hasina was found guilty under included incitement, order to kill, and inaction to prevent the atrocities during the crackdown on students.
Over a year after being ousted as Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to death after a Bangladesh tribunal found her guilty on charges of crimes against humanity involving student protests in the country from July last year.
The charges she was found guilty under included incitement, order to kill, and inaction to prevent the atrocities, as per the order read out by judge Golam Mortuza Mozumder. She was found guilty of committing crimes against humanity during the student protests that eventually led to her ouster on August 5, 2024.
Follow live updates on Sheikh Hasina's Bangladesh tribunal ruling here.
The tribunal noted that Hasina knew about the killings during the student uprising last year and had issued the orders. "These killings happened under the orders and full knowledge of PM Sheikh Hasina. By such acts, they committed crimes against humanity," the charges read.
The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD), that declared Hasina a fugitive earlier, was referring to the alleged killings of six protestors Chankharpul on August 5 last year. "By issuing orders and through the inaction of Sheikh Hasina, the then Home Minister, and the IG of police, the students were killed," the court noted.
Not just Sheikh Hasina, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun were also found guilty of committing "crimes against humanity".
The tribunal reportedly noted that prosecutors had conclusively shown Hasina was behind the deadly crackdown on student-led protests from July 15 to August 15 last year.
Why was Hasina sentenced to death?
Five charges had been listed against Sheikh Hasina, including ordering the killing of hundreds of young protesters in Dhaka last year, and the use of helicopters and drones to fire on civilian crowds.
The 78-year-old ousted Prime Minister was “found guilty on three counts”, the tribunal judge said on Monday, adding: "All the elements constituting crimes against humanity have been fulfilled".
After finding Hasina guilty of incitement of violence, ordering to kill and not preventing the atrocities against students last year, the tribunal said: "We have decided to inflict her with only one sentence -- that is, sentence of death".
Exiled in India, Hasina rejects death sentence
Shortly after the court pronounced its verdict, Hasina expectedly rejected it as "biased and politically motivated". She said she had been “given no fair chance to defend myself in court”, and called the verdict rigged.
"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where evidence can be weighed and tested fairly," Hasina was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.
Since her government was overthrown in Bangladesh, Hasina has been living in India and had previously refused to return despite court orders to attend the proceedings.
