The former information minister of Bangladesh, Mohammad Ali Arafat, has called the death sentence handed to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a “scripted” and “sham” trial orchestrated by the country’s interim government. Speaking to NDTV, the Awami League leader accused interim chief and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus of using the judicial process to cement his control and claimed that Bangladesh is being pushed toward religious radicalisation.

“The entire proceeding was controlled by Muhammad Yunus and his administration. This is a scripted, sham trial,” Arafat said. He alleged that jihadist forces have infiltrated the state machinery under Yunus’s leadership. “The country has gone into the hands of the jihadists, and Yunus is heading them. They have captured the administration. We have to defeat this entire group politically with people’s support,” he added.

Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia on Monday by the International Crimes Tribunal, a court that she herself had established to try war crimes dating back to Bangladesh’s 1971 independence struggle. The verdict marks a stunning twist in the career of one of South Asia’s most powerful leaders. Hasina, 78, had been credited with transforming Bangladesh’s economy and garments industry while gaining international recognition for sheltering Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. Her ouster in August last year followed massive student-led protests against her government.

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Arafat further alleged that the interim government has already rigged the national elections scheduled for February next year. “Yunus is going ahead with a rigged election. The outcome is already decided. They are blocking the Awami League and other progressive parties,” he said. “Awami League has 20 million members—it is the reason Bangladesh came into being. Suppressing it will inevitably lead to backlash. It didn’t work in 1971, and it won’t work now.”

Since assuming charge in 2024, Yunus has banned the Awami League, promising to punish Hasina for her alleged human rights abuses during her final months in power. His government insists it will hold “free and fair” elections in February 2026, though political violence and unrest continue across the country. The United Nations has estimated that nearly 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns during Hasina’s final months—a central charge in her controversial trial.

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