Prosecutors in Bangladesh are demanding the death penalty for former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, accusing her of ordering a deadly crackdown on student-led protests that toppled her government in 2024. The Sheikh Hasina death penalty trial has sparked intense debate across the region, as the once-powerful leader now faces charges of crimes against humanity.
Sheikh Hasina death penalty demand
Chief prosecutor Tajul Islam told the court that Hasina “deserves 1,400 death sentences” for every life lost during the unrest but added, “since that is not humanly possible, we demand at least one.” The violence, which erupted after protests against job quotas for relatives of 1971 war veterans, left about 1,400 people dead, marking Bangladesh’s worst bloodshed since its independence war.
The protests escalated into a nationwide movement against Hasina’s 15-year rule, culminating in her dramatic escape from Dhaka on 5 August 2024, just before protesters stormed her official residence. A BBC investigation revealed that at least 52 people were killed in Dhaka on that day alone, one of the deadliest episodes of police violence in the country’s history.
Trial and charges
Hasina, now in exile in India, is being tried alongside her former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun. Prosecutors have also sought death sentences for Kamal, who remains in hiding, while Chowdhury pleaded guilty earlier this year.
The former prime minister denies the charges and claims the crackdown was a necessary response to violent unrest. Her lawyer argues that security forces were “forced to act” to prevent the country from descending into chaos.
Political fallout and upcoming elections
Hasina’s once-dominant Awami League party has been banned from political activity, while her rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leads ahead of the February elections. Hasina, already sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court and facing additional corruption charges, remains one of the most polarizing figures in Bangladesh’s modern history.
The Sheikh Hasina death penalty case marks a dramatic fall from grace for a leader once hailed as a symbol of democracy, now accused of orchestrating one of the deadliest crackdowns in the country’s history.
