Sheikh Hasina Ousted Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death for crimes against humanity

Defence affairs ~ Def-Geopolitics

Bangladesh’s deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death in absentia by a court in Dhaka for crimes against humanity over a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year.

A three-judge bench of the country’s international crimes tribunal convicted Hasina of crimes including incitement, orders to kill, and inaction to prevent atrocities, carried out as she oversaw a crackdown on anti-government protesters last year.

Reading the verdict to the court, Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder said the “accused prime minister committed crimes against humanity by her order to use drones, helicopters and lethal weapons” against civilians.

Hasina had pleaded not guilty to the charges and alleged the tribunal was a “politically motivated charade”.

The months-long tribunal tried and sentenced Hasina in absentia. Since she fled the country in August last year, Hasina has been living in exile – and under protection – in neighbouring India, and the Indian government has ignored requests for her extradition to face trial.

Family members of killed protesters broke down in tears in the courtroom as judges handed death sentences to Hasina and the former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, her co-accused in the trial.

Hasina’s absence from the defendant’s box was stark. In a statement released after the ruling, Hasina said she was not given a “fair chance” to defend herself in court and claimed that she had only acted in “good faith” to bring disorder under control.

The verdict, she added, had been “made by a rigged tribunal established and presided over by an unelected government with no democratic mandate”.

Dhaka was on edge in the run-up to the decision, with security tightened across the capital and police, army and paramilitaries cordoning off the tribunal area. In the days running up to the verdict, the capital experienced a sharp rise in political violence, including dozens of crude bombs set off across the city. The city’s police issued a “shoot-on-sight” order for anyone caught launching explosives or setting fire to vehicles.

On Monday morning, a crude bomb was hurled on to the roads close to the court, setting off panic and prompting police to blockade the roads.

The protest that toppled Hasina began as a student movement but escalated into a nationwide uprising, now referred to as the “July revolution”, against Hasina’s authoritarian rule.

Hasina’s 15 years in power were seen as a reign of terror by many in Bangladesh, marred by allegations of corruption, torture and enforced disappearances, which were documented by human rights organisations and the UN.