Bangladesh tribunal sentences ex-PM Hasina to death for 'crimes against humanity'

Dhaka, Nov 17: Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), on Monday, convicted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her two top aides on the charges of “crimes against humanity” related to the demonstrations in July of last year.

Hasina, 78, who has been living in India since her government was toppled on August 5 last year, was sentenced to death in absentia by a special tribunal. She was earlier declared a fugitive by the court.

Reading out the judgment before a heavily guarded courtroom in Dhaka, the tribunal said the prosecution had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Hasina was behind the deadly crackdown on student-led protests between July 15 and August 15 last year.

A UN rights office report had earlier estimated that up to 1,400 people were killed during the month-long agitation, known as the July Uprising.

Hasina was handed the death penalty for ordering the use of deadly force against unarmed protesters, making inflammatory statements and authorising operations that led to the killing of several students in Dhaka and surrounding areas.

The other co-accused are, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former Inspector General of Police, Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun.

The verdict was being live broadcast by Bangladesh Television (BTV) from the ICT courtroom, where the three-member Tribunal-1, headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Majumder, delivered the judgment.

Till now, Hasina has defied the court's orders by refusing to return to the South Asian nation to face trial. Asaduzzaman is currently a fugitive, while Mamun is in custody and has pleaded guilty.

Notably, Mamun has become a state witness, making him the first accused to do so since the tribunal was established in 2010.

The formal charge documents consist of 8,747 pages, including references, seized evidence, and a comprehensive list of victims, reports leading Bangladeshi daily, The Dhaka Tribune.

Prosecutors have charged the accused with five counts, including failure to prevent murder, which constitutes crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law. They are seeking the death penalty if the defendants are found guilty.

Additionally, the prosecutors requested that the tribunal confiscate the assets of the three defendants upon conviction and distribute them to the families of the victims.

Hasina, however, has always denied all the charges.

Meanwhile, Dhaka has been placed under unprecedented security clampdown after Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Sheikh Md Sajjat Ali on Sunday evening issued a “shoot-at-sight order” targeting individuals engaged in arson attacks, cocktail explosions or attempts to harm police and civilians ahead of the ICT verdict.

The two-day strike organised by Hasina's Awami League for November 16–17 has coincided with an increase in cocktail explosions and arson incidents throughout the capital.

At least 21 leaders and workers from the Awami League, who are currently prohibited from engaging in political activities, were apprehended during special operations throughout Narayanganj in the last 36 hours, reports leading Bangladeshi newspaper, The Daily Star.

With inputs from agencies