Verdict made by rigged tribunal: Ex-Bangladesh PM Hasina on death penalty

The tribunal declared Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal as fugitives and decided to hold the entire trial in absentia

Ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday said the death sentence against her has been "politically motivated" and passed by a "rigged tribunal."

 

In a statement shared on the official social media handle of the Bangladesh Awami League, Hasina said, "The verdicts announced against me have been made by a rigged tribunal established and presided over by an unelected government with no democratic mandate. They are biased and politically motivated."

 

"In their distasteful call for the death penalty, they reveal the brazen and murderous intent of extremist figures within the interim government to remove Bangladesh’s last elected prime minister, and to nullify the Awami League as a political force," she added.

 

 

Earlier today, the International Crimes Tribunal Bangladesh (ICT-BD) sentenced Hasina to death, finding her guilty of "crimes against humanity." The tribunal declared Hasina and Kamal as fugitives and held the entire trial in absentia. 

 

Hasina, along with her aides, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, are facing five charges, including murder, attempted murder, torture and other cruel acts. Along with Hasina, Kamal also received a death penalty. Meanwhile, Mamun was sentenced to five years in jail.

Bangladeshis will not be fooled: Hasina

In her statement, Hasina further said that millions of Bangladeshis toiling under the chaotic, violent and socially regressive administration of Dr Mohammad Yunus will not be fooled by this attempt to short-change them of their democratic rights. "They can see that the trials conducted by the so-called ICT were never intended to achieve justice or provide any genuine insight into the events of July and August 2025. Rather, their purpose was to scapegoat the Awami League and to distract the world’s attention from the failings of Dr Yunus and his ministers," she said.

 

"Under his aegis, public services have fallen apart. Police have retreated from the country’s crime-ridden streets and judicial fairness has been subverted, with attacks on Awami League adherents going unpunished. Hindus and other religious minorities are assaulted, and women’s rights are suppressed," she added.

1,400 people killed during protests

According to a United Nations report, at least 1,400 people may have been killed during the protests between July 15 and August 5, 2024, with thousands more injured in what was the worst violence in Bangladesh since its 1971 war of independence.

 

Hasina further warned the citizens of Islamic extremists inside the administration, stating that they seek to undermine Bangladesh’s long tradition of secular government. "Journalists are locked up and menaced, economic growth has stalled, and Yunus has delayed elections and then banned the country’s most long standing party (the Awami League) from participating in those elections," she said.

Bangladesh on high alert

Security has been tightened across the country ahead of the verdict. Police in Dhaka have been ordered to shoot violent protesters. Army troops, Border Guard Bangladesh personnel and riot police have been deployed around the ICT-BD court. Streets in Dhaka were mostly empty due to fear of violence.