Sheikh Hasina, ex-Bangladesh PM, sentenced to death over crackdown on student protesters
Sheikh Hasina, the deposed prime minister of Bangladesh, has been sentenced to death by the country’s international crimes tribunal for crimes against humanity.
The case stems from an unrest between July 15 and August 5, 2024, when Hasina was said to have ordered a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising.
According to a United Nations report, up to 1,400 people may have been killed and many more injured most by gunfire from security forces in what became Bangladesh’s worst violence since the 1971 war of independence.
The students were protesting against unemployment, rising costs of living, and long-standing grievances about government.
They accused the government of stifling dissent and demanded sweeping reforms, including the resignation of senior security officials and justice for earlier incidents of police brutality.
Prosecutors told the court on Monday that they had uncovered evidence of Hasina’s direct command to use lethal force to suppress the student-led uprising.
