Bangladesh on edge as tribunal to deliver verdict against ousted PM Sheikh Hasina
Prosecutors have asked for the death penalty for all of them. Hasina, now 78, faces several cases after being removed from office in August 2024 during the massive student uprising.
PTC News Desk: A special court in Bangladesh will announce its verdict on Monday in a case against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who is being tried without being present, for alleged crimes against humanity during last year’s student protests that forced her Awami League government out of power. The
International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD) will give its decision at 11 am, according to Prosecutor Gazi Monawar Hossain Tamim. The court will also deliver verdicts for two of Hasina’s close associates — former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun — who face the same charges.
Prosecutors have asked for the death penalty for all of them. Hasina, now 78, faces several cases after being removed from office in August 2024 during the massive student uprising.
A UN human rights report estimates that as many as 1,400 people were killed between July 15 and August 15 during what is now called the July Uprising, when her government ordered a harsh crackdown on protesters. Hasina and Kamal were declared fugitives, so the tribunal conducted their trial in their absence. Mamun appeared in court but later turned approver.
Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam called Hasina the “mastermind” behind the alleged violence and demanded the death sentence for her. Her supporters argue that the charges are politically driven.
The tribunal finished hearings on October 23 after 28 working days. During this time, 54 witnesses testified about how the government responded to the student movement that brought down Hasina’s government on August 5, 2024.