'Rigged tribunal': Ex-PM Hasina slams ICT judgment

Former Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina on Monday described the death sentence given to her by a tribunal for crimes against humanity as the verdict of a “rigged tribunal established and presided over by an unelected government” that was aimed at nullifying her Awami League party as a political force.

- HT Correspondent

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), a domestic war crimes court in Dhaka, sentenced Hasina to death for ordering the use of lethal force against protesters last year. It gave her a separate sentence of imprisonment until death for inciting and being complicit in crimes against civilians by law enforcement and armed cadres of the Awami League.

Describing the guilty verdict as a “foregone conclusion”, Hasina said in a statement shortly after the ICT announced its verdict: “Millions of Bangladeshis toiling under the chaotic, violent and socially regressive administration of Dr Muhammad Yunus will not be fooled by this attempt to shortchange them of their democratic rights.”

The 78-year-old former premier, who has lived in self-exile in India since she fled Dhaka after the ouster of her government in August 2024, added, “They can see that the trials conducted by the so-called International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) were never intended to achieve justice or provide any genuine insight into the events of July and August 2024.”