The court has announced capital punishment for Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal for committing crimes against humanity.
In a 453-page judgment, the court convicted Hasina and said that it has modified certain charges against Hasina including murder, attempted murder, torture and other inhumane acts. A key charge accuses Hasina of ordering the “extermination” of protesters. The court also found her guilty of making inflammatory remarks and directing the use of deadly weapons against students.
The capital Dhaka, usually choked with weekday traffic, saw empty roads, shuttered markets and rows of security forces stationed at every major intersection. The verdict followed a week marked by crude bomb blasts, arson attacks and mass arrests, deepening unease in a country already unsettled by political upheaval since Hasina’s ouster in August 2024.
The former leader was tried in absentia and is still in asylum in India.
How the case against Hasina began
The charges stem from the July–August 2024 student uprising, during which prosecutors said Hasina directed security forces to use lethal force, authorised weapons deployment and oversaw actions that led to deaths and injuries across Dhaka, Rangpur and other cities. A United Nations report estimated that up to 1,400 people were killed between July 15 and August 5, 2024, making it the worst bout of violence in Bangladesh since the 1971 independence war. According to Al Jazeera, investigators assembled one of the largest bodies of evidence handled by the special tribunal. Fourteen volumes comprising nearly 10,000 pages of local and international reports, medical records, postmortem documents, ballistic logs, helicopter flight schedules and media footage were submitted. At least 93 documentary exhibits and 32 material exhibits — including bullets, shell casings, blood-stained clothing, audio and video recordings and field reports — were presented. More than 80 witnesses testified, 54 of them in court, including survivors, doctors, protest organisers and investigators.
The tribunal later expanded the charges to murder, attempted murder, torture and attacks on unarmed demonstrators. Hasina was tried in absentia alongside former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, while former police chief Abdullah Al Mamun appeared in person and turned approver.
Where is Hasina and what is her response
Hasina has remained in India since fleeing Bangladesh following her ouster. After the verdict was pronounced, Hasina issued a statement, calling the tribunal ‘biased and politically motivated.’ “The verdicts announced against me have been made by a rigged tribunal established and presided over by an unelected government with no democratic mandate,” AFP quoted Hasina as saying in a statement. “They are biased and politically motivated.”
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In the past, she has repeatedly rejected the allegations, calling them “entirely false” and “politically motivated”, as per a Bloomberg report, which quoted her emailed response. “I categorically deny all charges brought against me. The claim that I ordered security forces to open fire on protesters is categorically untrue.”
In an audio message shared by the Awami League ahead of the verdict, she told supporters that “this is just a matter of time” as she rejected the charges and urged party members not to worry.
Under ICT-BD rules, she cannot appeal unless she surrenders or is arrested within 30 days of the judgment.
Security lockdown across Bangladesh
The hours ahead of the verdict saw Dhaka under extraordinary lockdown.
Armoured carriers, water cannons and riot-control units from the Rapid Action Battalion and police were deployed at major intersections. Security forces mounted round-the-clock vigilance around the ICT-BD complex, the Secretariat, the Supreme Court, the Prime Minister’s Office and the diplomatic enclave.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner SM Sazzat Ali authorised officers to use live fire on violent protesters, and said that anyone who sets a bus on fire or throws crude bombs with the intent to kill should be shot.
Wave of attacks deepens anxiety
Trouble has escalated nationwide over the past week. At least 30 crude bomb blasts and 26 vehicle burnings were reported, though Reuters noted that no casualties have occurred so far. Crude bombs were detonated near the Grameen Bank headquarters, several branches were attacked with petrol bombs, and a bus driver was killed in an arson attack earlier in the week.
On Sunday night, unidentified groups set fire to a vehicle-dumping yard inside a police station complex and detonated explosives outside the home of an advisory council member to Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.
In Rangpur, Chattogram and other districts, streets remained largely deserted under heavy patrols. Border Guard Bangladesh forces were deployed, while markets and public transport services stayed shut as the banned Awami League called a two-day shutdown.
The verdict comes as Yunus’s interim administration struggles to stabilise the country and prepare for elections scheduled for February. Hasina has criticised the ban on the Awami League from contesting the polls, saying it would disenfranchise millions.
She urged supporters to “remain peaceful, remain patient, and continue to believe that democracy will return to our country.”