Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister, has been sentenced to dying after being convicted of crimes towards humanity.
It follows a months-long trial in the country that discovered her responsible of ordering a lethal crackdown on a student-led rebellion final yr.
The previous chief, exiled in India, was tried in absentia after the United Nations mentioned as much as 1,400 individuals might have been killed within the violence.
Bangladesh’s well being adviser beneath the interim authorities mentioned greater than 800 individuals had been killed and about 14,000 had been injured.
The scholars initially began protesting over the best way authorities jobs had been being allotted, however clashes with police and pro-government activists quickly escalated into violence.
The courtroom revealed conversations of Hasina directing safety officers to drop bombs from helicopters on the protesters.
She additionally permitted the usage of deadly weapons, together with shotguns at shut vary for max hurt, the courtroom was advised.
Hasina, who beforehand referred to as the tribunal a “kangaroo courtroom”, fled to India in August 2024 on the peak of the rebellion, ending 15 years of rule.
In a press release launched after the decision, Hasina mentioned the ruling was “biased and politically motivated”.
“I’m not afraid to face my accusers in a correct tribunal the place proof may be weighed and examined pretty,” she added.
August 2024: Protesters rejoice Sheikh Hasina’s resignation
The 78-year-old is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the nation to independence.
The Worldwide Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh’s home battle crimes courtroom positioned within the capital Dhaka, delivered its four-hour verdict amid tight safety.
Hasina obtained a life sentence beneath costs for crimes towards humanity and the dying sentence for the killing of a number of individuals in the course of the rebellion.
The decision, which was broadcast reside on state tv, may be appealed within the Supreme Court docket.
What was behind the protests?
The packed courtroom cheered and clapped when the sentence was learn out.
The tribunal additionally sentenced former house minister Asaduzzaman Khan – additionally exiled in India – to dying.
A 3rd suspect, a former police chief, was sentenced to 5 years in jail as he grew to become a state witness towards Hasina and pleaded responsible.
The ruling is essentially the most dramatic authorized motion towards a former Bangladeshi chief since independence in 1971 and comes forward of parliamentary elections anticipated to be held in February.
July 2024: Bangladesh protest has ‘change into a battle’
Paramilitary border guards and police have been deployed in Dhaka and lots of different elements of the nation, whereas the interim authorities warned any try and create dysfunction will probably be “strictly” handled.
It comes after Hasina’s Awami League social gathering referred to as for a nationwide shutdown as a part of a protest towards the decision.
The temper within the nation had been described as tense forward of Monday’s ruling.
The protests escalated in the course of the summer season of 2024. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
Not less than 30 crude bomb explosions and 26 automobiles had been set on hearth throughout Bangladesh in the course of the previous few days.
Hasina can also be the aunt of former UK authorities minister, Tulip Saddiq, who resigned from her Treasury job initially of this yr.
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Ms Siddiq had confronted calls to step down over hyperlinks to her aunt and was additionally mentioned to be facing a corruption trial in Bangladesh.
She advised Sky Information in August the accusations had been “nothing greater than a farce” and mentioned she had by no means been contacted by the Bangladeshi authorities.
