Bangladesh Court Hands Sheikh Hasina Death Sentence in Explosive 453-Page Verdict
Ex-PM convicted for crimes against humanity in historic ruling.
In a packed courtroom broadcast live on state-run Bangladesh Television (BTV), the International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Monday delivered a mammoth 453-page judgment that took more than an hour to read aloud, formally sentencing fugitive former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death by hanging for masterminding crimes against humanity during the bloody suppression of the 2024 student-led revolution that ended her 15-year iron rule.
The three-judge bench, chaired by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Majumder, convicted Hasina on all three charges framed against her — conspiracy, abetment, and direct command responsibility — holding that she, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun had jointly planned and executed a nationwide campaign of lethal force that left hundreds dead and thousands wounded between July and August last year.
Drawing from an unprecedented 8,747-page charge sheet stuffed with forensic reports, intercepted phone calls, victim statements, and video evidence, the tribunal concluded that Hasina personally issued shoot-to-kill orders, authorised helicopter gunfire on protesters, and labelled students “Razakars” to dehumanise them before unleashing security forces — acts the judges ruled amounted to systematic attack on a civilian population.
Also Read: #JustIn: Hasina Found Guilty in Absentia for Student Uprising Crackdown; UN Says Up to 1,400 Killed
While Hasina and Kamal were tried in absentia after fleeing to India, ex-police chief Mamun initially appeared in the dock before turning state witness; jubilant crowds inside the heavily guarded courtroom burst into cheers and applause the moment the death sentence was pronounced, scenes beamed live across the nation and instantly viral on social media.
Hours before the verdict, Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy had told Reuters the entire trial was a “scripted political drama” with a pre-decided death penalty, while reassuring the world that his mother remains “completely safe” under round-the-clock protection provided by the Indian government in New Delhi — setting the stage for a potential diplomatic storm over extradition as the Muhammad Yunus regime celebrates its biggest victory against the old order.
Also Read: Sheikh Hasina Defiant Before Big Verdict: “Allah Gave Life, He Will Take It”
