Bangladesh Ex-PM Sheikh Hasina: File photo- ANI.
Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death for ‘crimes against humanity’ on 17 November, 2025, by the Dhaka-based International Crimes, Tribunal-1, Bangladesh media has reported.
The Awami League has , according to the Indian media, denounced the verdict as “biased, politically motivated, and the result of a rigged tribunal established by an unelected government with no democratic mandate”. Party leaders and Hasina herself argue, NDTV says, that the tribunal deliberately targeted the Awami League to eliminate it as a political force and distract from the failings of the current interim government led by Mohammad Yunus.
NPR reports, the Awami League has called for a nationwide shutdown and warned that banning the party or barring its leaders from participation would deepen the national crisis ahead of upcoming elections.
ANI adds: In a statement of Hasina shared by the Bangladesh Awami league, responding to the verdict, she 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 slammed the administration of Yunus and said, “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 International Crimes Tribunal (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.”
India’s official reaction to the death sentence handed to Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been measured and diplomatic. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a statement noting the verdict announced by the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh. India expressed its commitment to the best interests of the Bangladeshi people, emphasizing peace, democracy, inclusion, and stability in Bangladesh. The MEA affirmed that India will always engage constructively with all stakeholders in Bangladesh toward these goals. However, India has so far refrained from directly commenting on Bangladesh’s explicit demand for Hasina’s extradition, which Dhaka claims is obligated under the bilateral extradition treaty, reports the Indian Express.
“The verdict was delivered in absentia, as Hasina fled to India after being ousted from power in August 2024. Along with Hasina, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal was also sentenced to death, while the former police chief involved became a state witness and received a five-year prison sentence,” reports the NDTV.
The All India Radio reports the main charges against Sheikh Hasina involved were ordering and inciting a violent crackdown on student protesters, leading to the deaths of hundreds of people between July 15 and August 15, 2024, during what is being called the “July Uprising”
Specific incidents cited in the case included killings in Ashulia, Rangpur, and Chankharpul, as well as the use of drones, helicopters, and live ammunition against demonstrators. The verdict was pronounced by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder and was broadcast live from Dhaka
Hasina was tried in absentia and continues to reside in India, maintaining that the tribunal was “rigged” and the process politically motivated by the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus (who took over after Hasina’s ousting).
The verdict has sparked significant tension and violent clashes in Bangladesh, with supporters of Hasina’s Awami League and security forces confronting each other outside her former residence in Dhaka. Many lawyers in the courtroom cheered the ruling, while the interim government and the tribunal have presented the verdict as a signal that “no one, regardless of power, is above the law”.
