Bangladesh sentences Sheikh Hasina to death over students crackdown

A Bangladesh war crimes court sentenced ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death on Monday, concluding a monthslong trial that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year.

DHAKA, Bangladesh — A Bangladesh war crimes court sentenced ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death on Monday, concluding a monthslong trial that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year.

The ruling is the most dramatic legal action against a former Bangladeshi leader in decades and comes months ahead of parliamentary elections expected to be held in early February.

Hasina‘s Awami League party has been barred from contesting and it is feared that Monday’s verdict could stoke fresh unrest ahead of the vote.

Bangladesh's ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka in 2023. Ludovic Marin / AFP via Getty ImagesThe International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes court located in the capital Dhaka, delivered the verdict amid tight security and in Hasina’s absence after she fled to India in August 2024.

Hasina got a life sentence under charges for crimes against humanity and the death sentence for the killing of several people during the uprising.