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Asia Pacific|Bangladesh Court Sentences Former Leader Sheikh Hasina to Death
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/world/asia/bangladesh-sheikh-hasina-death-sentence.html
The former prime minister, who fled to India last year, was tried in absentia for ordering the use of lethal weapons during the uprising that drove her from power.
Nov. 17, 2025, 4:29 a.m. ET
A tribunal in Bangladesh sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death on Monday after convicting her of crimes against humanity, including murder and ordering the use of lethal weapons against protesters during the student uprising that ultimately ousted her last year.
The trial, which was conducted in absentia because Ms. Hasina fled into exile, was the first sign for Bangladeshis that she would be held to account for the killings of hundreds of civilians during the protests, which began peacefully but turned into a violent revolution after security forces moved to brutally suppress the movement.
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Ms. Hasina fled to India after her the protests toppled her government in August 2024. She has denied involvement in any atrocities and criticized the court proceedings against her. It is unlikely that India, which considers Ms. Hasina a close ally, would allow her extradition.
But the verdict by the International Crimes Tribunal, a Bangladeshi court, is significant because it fulfills one of the promises made by the interim government of Muhammad Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel laureate. He was tasked with leading his country out of the brief spell of bloodshed and mayhem that came to be called the “July Revolution” into a stable electoral democracy with free and fair elections.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Anupreeta Das covers India and South Asia for The Times. She is based in New Delhi.
