Ex-Bangladeshi PM punished for role in massacre of protesters

THE aunt of Labour MP Tulip Siddiq has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity.

- BY JULHAS ALAM

Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted as Bangladesh's Prime Minister last summer after 15 years, was found guilty after hundreds of people died following her crackdown on a student uprising.

The International Crimes Tribunal also sentenced former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan to death.

Both Hasina and Khan fled to India last year and are not expected to return to face their sentences.

India has not responded to requests by Bangladesh to extradite them.

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

The interim government in Bangladesh says more than 800 people were killed and about 14,000 injured in the July 2024 massacre, when police and paramilitary groups launched a brutal crackdown against protesters.

The UN says as many as 1,400 may have died. Hasina said the charges are unjustified, arguing she and Khan were trying to minimise the loss of life.