Bangladesh’s Ousted Prime Minister Sentenced to Death

Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death after being found guilty of crimes against humanity for a violent crackdown on student protests in 2024.

The United Nations estimated that up to 1,400 people were killed during the unrest. Most victims died from gunfire by security forces.

The 78-year-old has lived in exile in New Delhi, India, since protesters forced her from office in August 2024. According to CNN, she called the Monday verdict “biased and politically motivated” and said, “I wholly deny the accusations that have been made against me in the ICT,” in a statement through a public relations firm.

Hasina was tried in absentia, to which she said, “I was given no fair chance to defend myself in court, nor even to have lawyers of my own choice represent me in absentia,” according to CNN.

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) also sentenced former Home Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Khan to death. A former police chief received five years after becoming a state witness.

The Director of Public Prosecutions said the court found Hasina responsible for “incitement, order, and failure to take punitive measures.” The judges stated that she “expressed her incitement to the activists of her party” and “ordered to kill and eliminate the protesting students.”

Bangladesh’s interim government has requested Hasina’s extradition from India. New Delhi has not indicated whether it will act.