Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled the country, has been sentenced to death in absentia for her brutal crackdown on student protests.
The Guardian writes about this.
The court found that Hasina gave orders to kill protesters and failed to prevent crimes during the suppression of anti-government protests last year.
Announcing the verdict, Judge Gholam Mortuz Mazumder said that "the accused prime minister committed crimes against humanity by ordering the use of drones, helicopters and lethal weapons" against civilians.
Hasina has pleaded not guilty and has said the tribunal is a "politically motivated show".
The UN human rights office called the verdict "an important moment for the victims" but said Hasina should not have been sentenced to death.
The months-long tribunal tried and convicted Hasina in absentia. Since fleeing the country last August, Hasina has been living in exile — and under guard — in neighboring India, with Indian authorities ignoring requests for her extradition to stand trial.
Protests in Bangladesh
Protests in Bangladesh began in July 2024. They were initially led by students protesting a quota system for government jobs, most of which were reserved for relatives of veterans of Bangladeshʼs 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.
Protesters said the quota system was discriminatory and demanded that jobs be awarded on the basis of merit. This is a major social issue for Bangladesh, as more than 30 million people in a country of 170 million are unemployed and out of school. The demonstrators demanded the prime minister resign.
On July 21, a Bangladeshi court abolished most of the quotas for government jobs that had sparked mass protests and riots. Protest organizers, however, said the Supreme Courtʼs decision did not mean the end of the protests, although they welcomed it.
The authorities brutally suppressed the protests. Protesters were shot at point-blank range, tortured, and illegally arrested. According to the UN, about 1,400 people died. It was the largest incident of political violence in Bangladesh since the 1971 war of independence.
On August 5, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled in a military helicopter from the Bangabhaban residence, accompanied by her younger sister Sheikh Rehana, to West Bengal, India. The flight ended her 15-year tenure in power (from 2009 to 2024).
Before that, she ruled the country for another five years from 1996 to 2001. An interim administration was headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
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