In a historic ruling on November 17, 2025, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death in absentia for crimes against humanity.
The court found her responsible for orchestrating a systematic and lethal crackdown on student-led protests in 2024, an uprising that resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,400 people and eventually led to her 15-year administration’s collapse.
The tribunal highlighted evidence of state-coordinated violence, including the use of helicopters, drones, and lethal weapons against unarmed civilians, and noted that audio recordings captured Hasina personally authorizing the use of deadly force.
From her exile in India, Hasina has fiercely rejected the verdict, characterizing the tribunal as a “rigged” and “politically motivated” instrument of an unelected government. She maintains that the proceedings were designed to dismantle her party, the Awami League, as a political force ahead of the national elections scheduled for February 2026.
While many families of the victims have celebrated the sentence as a necessary step toward justice and closure, international human rights organizations have voiced significant concerns regarding due process and the fairness of a trial conducted without the defendant’s presence or chosen legal representation.
The conviction has created a profound diplomatic impasse between the interim government, led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, and India. While Dhaka has formally requested Hasina’s extradition to face her sentence, New Delhi has recently rejected accusations that it is allowing her to incite unrest from Indian soil, maintaining a cautious stance that avoids immediate compliance with the turnover request.
As the February elections approach, the verdict remains a flashpoint in a country still reeling from recent bomb blasts and internal instability, leaving the future of the Awami League and the possibility of national reconciliation deeply uncertain.
