DHAKA, Bangladesh — Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal on Monday convicted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in absentia and sentenced her to death for crimes against humanity tied to a 2024 crackdown on a student-led uprising. The Sheikh Hasina verdict capped a months-long trial and landed as the country’s interim leadership accelerates a political transition ahead of national elections and a parallel reform referendum, Nov. 17, 2025.
Judge Golam Mortuza Mozumder said the court chose “only one sentence, that is sentence of death,” according to a Reuters report on the ruling. Hasina, who fled to India during the 2024 unrest, rejected the case as a “rigged tribunal,” while Bangladesh’s foreign ministry called for India to extradite her and former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who also received a death sentence.
The U.N. human rights office described the decision as “an important moment for victims” in its statement on the Sheikh Hasina verdict, while urging accountability that meets international standards. Human Rights Watch said the case raised fair-trial concerns and criticized the use of capital punishment in its assessment of the tribunal proceedings.
Sheikh Hasina verdict: what the tribunal said
In the Sheikh Hasina verdict, the tribunal found Hasina guilty on counts that included incitement, ordering killings and failing to prevent atrocities during the uprising, according to Reuters. Prosecutors argued the violence amounted to crimes against humanity under Bangladesh’s International Crimes (Tribunals) Act.
The proceedings were closely watched because the tribunal is a domestic war-crimes court created in 2010, originally to prosecute atrocities linked to Bangladesh’s 1971 independence war. In recent months, it has become the centerpiece of a broader effort by the interim administration to prosecute alleged abuses committed during Hasina’s final stretch in power.
Sheikh Hasina verdict and the Feb. 12, 2026 referendum
Bangladesh’s election commission has scheduled parliamentary elections for Feb. 12, 2026 — with a referendum on the “July Charter” reform plan to run alongside the vote — according to Reuters’ report on the election and referendum timetable. The charter proposes wide-ranging changes meant to curb executive power, strengthen the independence of the judiciary and election authorities, and prevent misuse of law-enforcement agencies.
Analysts say the Sheikh Hasina verdict could shape the campaign environment by hardening partisan fault lines and raising the stakes for how Bangladesh defines accountability after the uprising — including whether political reconciliation is possible while the Awami League remains barred from the election.
How Bangladesh reached the Sheikh Hasina verdict
The legal path to the Sheikh Hasina verdict traces back to the upheaval that forced Hasina from office. Reuters reported when Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus was chosen to lead an interim administration after Hasina fled the country in August 2024.
In October 2024, the tribunal issued an arrest warrant for Hasina, Reuters reported, citing alleged involvement in mass killings during the protests. By July 2025, Reuters reported the tribunal had already sentenced Hasina in absentia in a contempt-of-court case — signaling the accelerating pace of prosecutions that ultimately culminated in the death sentence.
Whether the verdict can be enforced now depends on Hasina’s custody and any further legal steps, including appeals and the outcome of extradition demands. Whatever happens next, the Sheikh Hasina verdict has become a defining marker of Bangladesh’s post-uprising transition — with the Feb. 12, 2026 election and referendum set to test whether the country can pair accountability with durable political reform.
