Sheikh Hasina to India Today on death sentence for crimes against humanity, calls it biased and politically motivated

Ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday delivered her first reaction to the death sentence handed to her by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), calling the ruling “biased, politically motivated” and issued by a “rigged tribunal with no democratic mandate”.

She made the remarks in an interview with India Today TV from New Delhi, where she has been living in exile since 5 August 2024.

Hasina, 78, who was convicted of crimes against humanity for her alleged role in last year’s student uprising, said she “wholly denies the accusations” and insisted the trial was a “foregone conclusion”.

She criticised the proceedings held in her absence, saying she had “no fair chance to defend myself in court, nor even to have lawyers of my own choice represent me”.

According to her, “there is nothing international about the ICT; nor is it in any way impartial,” claiming the tribunal has “exclusively prosecuted members of the Awami League” while ignoring violence allegedly committed by political opponents.

The ICT found her guilty on charges of incitement to violence, issuing orders to kill protesters, and failing to prevent widespread atrocities. Former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan also received a death sentence, while a former police chief was given five years after turning state witness.

Rejecting the ruling, Hasina said that “no genuinely respected or professional jurist in the world would endorse the Bangladesh ICT,” arguing the court was being used to “remove Bangladesh’s last elected prime minister, and to nullify the Awami League as a political force”.

She accused interim leader Muhammad Yunus of seizing power “unconstitutionally, and with the support of extremist elements”, claiming that under his rule, protests by students, garment workers, doctors and teachers had been met “with suppression, some of it brutal”. She alleged peaceful demonstrators were “shot and killed,” and journalists faced “harassment and torture.”

Hasina further alleged that Yunus’s forces oversaw retaliatory attacks across the country and destroyed “hundreds of homes, businesses and properties belonging to Awami League leaders and activists.”

Responding to the tribunal’s assertions on human rights abuses, Hasina said the July-August unrest was “a tragedy for our country”, but rejected the charge that she orchestrated premeditated killings.

She maintained prosecutors produced “no persuasive evidence” linking her to mass violence, adding that government actions were taken “in accordance with domestic and international law to preserve order”.

She also challenged the widely quoted death toll of 1,400, insisting that Bangladesh’s own Ministry of Health had confirmed “614 families” as recipients of state support for martyrs, and criticised prosecutors for relying on “anonymous testimony from state employees under pressure.”

Hasina reiterated she was ready to face trial in a neutral international forum, saying: “I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly.”

She accused the interim administration of resisting such scrutiny because “they know the ICC would acquit me.”

The verdict, which arrives months ahead of Bangladesh’s February election-one the Awami League has already been barred from, has intensified political tensions, with observers warning of further instability.

– Ends

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