Bangladesh "Biased and Politically Motivated"

 

 

"[The ruling had come from a] rigged tribunal [established and presided over by an unelected government with no democratic mandate]."

"They are biased and politically motivated."

"In their distasteful call for the death penalty, they reveal the brazen and murderous intent of extremist figures within the interim government to remove Bangladesh's last elected prime minister, and to nullify the Awami League as a political force."

"I wholly deny the accusations that have been made against me in the ICT. I mourn all of the deaths that occurred in July and August of last year, on both sides of the political divide. But neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protestors. ... I was given no fair chance to defend myself in court, nor even to have lawyers of my own choice represent me in absentia." 

Bangladesh former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina  

"Our tribunal was developed in line with the Nuremberg trials. It has met all international standards."

"No one can point to anywhere where those standards have not been met."

"Their defense lawyer was given enough time to come up with the response. He could not take instruction from the accused as they are fugitives."

"If they had been present, they could have given their testimonies and provided further witnesses, and they would have been given further time as per the law."

Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam   

Anti-government protesters are shown inside Sheikh Hasina's palace in Dhaka on Aug. 5, 2024, after she was toppled. (K M Asad/AFP/Getty Images)

 

As angry crowds stormed her palace in 2024, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India for haven, when critics accused her of jailing political rivals, enacting harsh anti-media laws and overseeing human rights abuses, killing opposition activists among them. According to the United Nations, some 1,400 people -- mostly students in revolt -- were killed in the months of July and August of 2024.

 

She was sentenced to death by a Dhaka court finding her guilty on three counts of crimes against humanity, including incitement and orders to kill, along with inaction to prevent atrocities from being played out. Hasina, charged chief prosecutor Tajul Islam, was "the nucleus around whom all the crimes (were) committed", during the popular uprising. 

 

Months of testimony detailing mass killings said to be ordered by Hasina were heard during her trial. The trial, Sheikh Hasina stated, was in fact, a "jurisprudential joke". Audio tapes of Hasina purportedly directly ordering security forces to "use lethal weapons", were also played in court by the prosecution. There are additional outstanding cases involving the former Bangladeshi leader, involving her daughter Saima Wazed who became a senor UN official, and her niece Tulip Diddiq, a British lawmaker. 

 

Grief-stricken relatives hold on to photographs of their loved ones still missing after a fire blazed through a garment factory in Bangladesh   Getty Images

 

Hasina's regime presided over a time of rapid economic expansion for Bangladesh, driven in large part by Bangladesh's garment export industry, during her second time as the country's leader in 2008. An industry that was plagued with reported human rights violations in the garment factories, and occasional fires that killed many workers trapped in buildings lacking proper fire exits and basic fire-prevention protocols.

 

At one time considered to be one of the world's poorest countries, the Bangladesh economy grew over six percent annually since 2009, and by 2021 surpassed India's per capita income. "The prospect of Sheikh Hasina mounting a political comeback in Bangladesh now appears very slim", commented International Crisis Group analyst Thomas Kean following the death verdict for the 80-year-old former leader. 

"After the uprising, we might have had a process of justice and peace and reconciliation. We didn't have that. We've had the same as before. We call it accountability, but it's more like political revenge."

"What really matters is, many people think that this is a kind of justice and that no other kind of justice was going to be achieved."

Naomi Hossain, development studies professor, University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies 

Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on a visit to Italy to meet with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome during Hasina's time in office in July 2023.

Antonio Masiello/Getty Images