Dhaka [Bangladesh], November 18: Former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia on Monday for crimes committed during the violent suppression of last year's student-led mass uprising that ousted her government and ended her 15-year rule.
The International Crimes Tribunal, a specialized court in Dhaka, announced her conviction for crimes against humanity, handing down the sentence in a crowded courtroom amid tight security.
It is the first death penalty handed to a former head of government in Bangladesh, a country with a tumultuous political history marked by the assassinations of two presidents, including Hasina's father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975. Hasina gave the direct order to shoot at demonstrators, according to the indictment. The 78-year-old was found liable for three counts of crimes against humanity for her role in the killing of protesters.
The United Nations estimates that some 1,400 people died during the protests. Hasina is in exile in India, where she fled after her ouster.
She slammed the ruling as "politically motivated" and issued by a "rigged tribunal with no democratic mandate," in an interview following the verdict with broadcaster India Today. She denied the accusations and said the outcome was a "foregone conclusion." The tribunal also delivered its verdict on two of Hasina's aides who were likewise accused of crimes against humanity.
Former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, who is also in India, was sentenced to death. Former police chief Abdullah Al Mamun was given a five-year prison term after testifying as key witness against Hasina and Khan. The court ordered the confiscation of assets owned by Hasina and Khan, to go towards the welfare of the victims of atrocities and their families.
Source: Qatar Tribune