Bangladesh's ousted leader gets death sentence

Bangladesh's ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and one of her close aides were sentenced to death Monday over her crackdown on a student uprising last year that killed hundreds of people and led to the toppling of her 15-year rule.

- JULHAS ALAM

SOLDIERS stand outside the Supreme Court on Monday in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The International Crimes Tribunal based in Dhaka, the capital, passed sentence on Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan for their involvement in the use of deadly force against protesters.

Hasina and Khan, who fled to India last year, were sentenced in absentia. India has so far declined to extradite them, making it unlikely that they would ever be executed.

A third suspect, a former police chief, was sentenced to five years in prison after becoming a state witness against Hasina and pleading guilty.

Hasina and Khan were accused of crimes against humanity for the killing of hundreds of people during a student-led uprising in July and August 2024. The health advisor to Bangladesh's interim government said more than 800 people were killed and about 14,000 were injured. However, the United Nations estimated the death toll could be up to 1,400.

Hasina's response

Hasina said the charges were unjustified, arguing that she and Khan "acted in good faith and were trying to minimize the loss of life."

"We lost control of the situation, but to characterize what happened as a premeditated assault on citizens is simply to misread the facts," she said Monday in a statement denouncing a verdict she called "biased and politically motivated."

"I mourn all of the deaths that occurred in July and August of last year, on both sides of the political divide," she said. "But neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters."

Hasina, 78, cannot appeal the verdict unless she surrenders or is arrested within 30 days of the judgment.