A Bangladesh court convicted ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of crimes against humanity on Monday, concluding a months-long trial that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year.
Bangladesh’s three-member International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD) on Monday delivered its verdict in the case against Hasina, who is being tried in absentia over alleged crimes against humanity committed during last year’s student-led agitation that led to the fall of her Awami League government.
The tribunal also delivered its judgment against Hasina's two aides, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, on the same charges and found all three guilty.
Mamun was produced before the tribunal.
Prosecutors have sought the death penalty for the accused.
Hasina, 78, faces multiple charges arising from the mass uprising that forced her out of office in August 2024. A UN rights office report estimates that up to 1,400 people were killed between July 15 and August 15 during the “July Uprising” as her government ordered a sweeping security crackdown.
Hasina and Kamal were declared fugitives and tried in absentia, while Mamun initially faced trial in person before turning approver.
Chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam described Hasina as the “mastermind and principal architect” of the alleged atrocities during the protests. Her supporters maintain the charges are politically motivated.
The tribunal concluded hearings on October 23 after 28 working days, during which 54 witnesses testified about the state’s response to the student-led movement that toppled Hasina’s government on August 5, 2024.
Hasina fled Bangladesh the same day amid intensifying unrest and has since been residing in India. Kamal is also believed to have taken refuge in India. The interim government led by Muhammad Yunus has sought Hasina’s extradition, but India has yet to respond.