New Delhi: Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal has sentenced former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to death for crimes against humanity during the crackdown on last year’s student-led uprising that led to her ouster.
In a televised verdict, the tribunal also handed a death sentence to ex-interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and a five-year jail term to former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun.
Over a thousand people were killed during the anti-government protests, marking the country’s deadliest period since its 1971 independence war. Hasina, 78, was tried in absentia, as she has been living in self-imposed exile in New Delhi ever since she fled her country in August last year during the upheaval.
The Mohammad Yunus interim government had beefed up security as the country turned tense ahead of the verdict, which comes ahead of general elections in February next year. Hasina’s party the Awami League has been effectively barred from contesting with the country’s Election Commission having suspended its registration.
In an audio message to her Awami League supporters, released shortly before the court read out its order, Hasina said: “Let them announce whatever verdict they want. It doesn’t matter to me. Allah gave me this life, and only he can end it. I will still serve my people.”
The former prime minister’s followers called for a nationwide shutdown to protest the prosecution’s case against Hasina. Anticipating tensions, the Bangladesh interim government deployed paramilitary border guards and police in Dhaka and several other parts of the country.
The prosecution, during the trial, sought the death penalty for the Awami League supremo.
Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed had told Reuters ahead of the verdict that Awami League supporters would block February’s elections if a ban on the party was not lifted, and warned that protests could escalate into violence.
Delivering the verdict, the court said: “It was her [Hasina’s] responsibility to take measures to prevent atrocities that continued for about a month. She did not take any punitive measures against the perpetrators.” The tribunal also said Hasina would pass directions to use drones and trace the location of the protesters, and send helicopters and lethal weapons to quell the stir.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)