Tuesday, November 18, 2025 - Bangladesh's former Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, has been found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death for the violent suppression of student protests last year that led to the collapse of her government.
A special tribunal found she was responsible for ordering a
violent crackdown on student-led protests last year, during which the UN
estimates up to 1,400 people died, most by gunfire from security forces.
Hasina, 78, who is the aunt of Labour MP Tulip Siddiq - was
tried in her absence as she is living in exile in India, where she has
been since being forced from power.
A three-judge bench of the country's international crimes
tribunal convicted Hasina of crimes including murder, extermination, torture
and other inhumane acts.
“Sheikh Hasina committed crimes against humanity by her
incitement, order and failure to take punitive measures,” one of the judges
said as he delivered her verdict.
It was “crystal clear” that she “expressed her incitement to
the activists of her party… and furthermore, she expressed that she ordered to
kill and eliminate the protesting students,” the judges said.
What began as peaceful student demonstrations over civil
service job quotas last year transformed into a nationwide push for Hasina’s
resignation. The turning point was a government crackdown that may have killed
up to 1,400 people, according to the UN human rights office. Up to
25,000 were also injured, the court heard.
Hasina faced five charges primarily related to inciting the
murder of the protestors, ordering protestors to be hanged, and ordering the
use of lethal weapons, drones, and helicopters to suppress the unrest. She
denies the charges.
The former leader ruled the South Asian nation with an
iron-fist from 2009 until her ouster in 2024, and it’s
feared Monday’s verdict could set off a wave of political chaos ahead of
national elections expected in February next year.
Hasina has been living in self-imposed exile in India’s capital
New Delhi since August last year, after the student protesters forced her and
her Awami League political party out of power.
She was not present at the court in Dhaka, and the trial was criticized by her lawyers,
who last week submitted an appeal to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions over “serious concerns about the
lack of fair trial rights and due process.”
The interim Bangladeshi government has formally requested
her extradition but New Delhi has so far remained silent on the request.
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