The UN rights office, which determined in a report in February that Bangladesh's former government was behind systematic attacks and killings of protesters that possibly amounted to crimes against humanity, welcomed that verdicts had been reached.
Since publishing the report, "we have been calling for perpetrators -- including individuals in positions of command and leadership -- to be held accountable in accordance with international standards", rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.
"We have also called for victims to have access to effective remedies and reparation," she added.
However, she stressed that the office had also "consistently advocated for all accountability proceedings -- especially on charges of international crimes -- to unquestionably meet international standards of due process and fair trial".
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| Mujib museum |
"This is particularly vital when, as was the case here, the trials have been conducted in absentia and led to a capital punishment sentence."
"We ... regret the imposition of the death penalty, which we oppose in all circumstances." the spokeswoman added.
UN rights chief Volker Turk hoped that "Bangladesh will move forward with a comprehensive process of truth-telling, reparation and justice as the pathway to national reconciliation and healing."
"This should include meaningful and transformative security sector reform, which respects international standards, to ensure that these violations and abuses are never repeated."
The rights office, she said, was ready to help Bangladesh. In the meantime, Turk was calling for "calm and for all to exercise restraint" in response to the verdicts, she added.
Global media coverage
Al-Jazeera kept giving live updates for its readers throughout the day. In its highlights, it said, "The 78-year-old fugitive politician was on trial in absentia for being the 'mastermind and principal architect' behind last year's suppression of mass demonstrations, in which some 1,400 people were killed."
CNN said, "Sheikh Hasina, the ousted Prime Minister of Bangladesh, has been sentenced to death after being found guilty of crimes against humanity for the violent suppression of student protests last year that led to the collapse of her government."
A panel of three judges from the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), Bangladesh's domestic war crimes court, delivered the verdict, ruling that Hasina was responsible for inciting hundreds of extrajudicial killings carried out by law enforcement, added the CNN report.
Reuters said Bangladesh's ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to death in her absence on Monday at the end of a months-long trial that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year.
"People in the packed courtroom -- including families of victims -- cheered and clapped, and some in the crowds outside sank to their knees and offered up prayers after the verdict, the harshest against a leader in the country's history," it added.
The BBC report titled, "Bangladesh's ousted leader Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death," said she has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity over the crackdown on student-led protests which led to her ousting last year.
It said the verdict now poses a diplomatic challenge for India and Bangladesh.
"Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but so far India has shown no willingness to comply," it reads.
The verdict, Sheikh Hasina said for her part had been “made by a rigged tribunal established and presided over by an unelected government with no democratic mandate”.
Dhaka was on edge in the run-up to the decision, with security tightened across the capital and police, army and paramilitaries cordoning off the tribunal area.
In the days running up to the verdict, the capital experienced a sharp rise in political violence, including dozens of crude bombs set off across the city. The city’s police issued a “shoot-on-sight” order for anyone caught launching explosives or setting fire to vehicles.
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| Aug 2024 protest and arson |
On Monday morning, Nov 17th, a crude bomb was hurled on to the roads close to the court, setting off panic and prompting police to blockade the roads.
The prosecution described Hasina as “the mastermind, conductor and superior commander” of the July and August atrocities. The case cited audio recordings of calls made by Hasina to directly link instructions from the prime minister’s office to the deadly street operations.
The use of the international crimes tribunal to try Hasina had been met with some criticism by human rights groups. The court had been established by Hasina herself and her opponents have accused her of using it to pursue politically motivated cases while she was in power. Human Rights Watch said that despite some changes, it still fell short of fair-trial standards and safeguards while retaining the right to pass down the death penalty.
The Yunus government had denied the criticism, saying the tribunal “functioned transparently, allowing observers and publishing regular documentation”. For families of those killed in the uprising, the verdict against Hasina brought some relief and catharsis.
Golam Rahman, 55, lost his son Golam Nafis after he was shot on 4 August at the height of the unrest.
Three hundred people have been killed in political violence in Bangladesh in the year since student-led protests toppled autocratic former leader Sheikh Hasina, the country's main human rights group said on Nov 2.
A report by Odhikar, a Dhaka-based rights organisation, said at least 281 people had been killed in violence involving political parties from August 2024, when Hasina's rule ended and she fled to India, to September 2025.
On top of those, there were another 40 victims of extrajudicial killings who had been suspected of crimes, while another 153 were lynched, the quarterly report released last week said.
Odhikar director ASM Nasiruddin Elan said adherence to human rights had improved since the fall of Hasina's government but law enforcement agencies were still not being held accountable.
"Yes, we don't see the frequent extrajudicial killings or enforced disappearances that we witnessed during the Hasina era, but deaths in custody, bribery, and harassment of victims are still ongoing," Elan said.
He said that "innocent people fall prey to atrocities" for their alleged involvement with the Awami League, Hasina's political party that is now banned.
Hasina's 15-year rule saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killing of her political opponents.
The Odhikar report also said many people had fallen victim to extortion by political parties, regardless of their financial or social standing, in the year since Hasina's fall.
** Rahman said the death sentence for Hasina was “the only acceptable verdict for what was done to my child. We buried a boy, not an enemy of the state. Nothing will bring him back, but the truth has to be said in court.”
Nafis’s last known photograph – of him lying in a three-wheeled pedal rickshaw as the puller tried to get him to the hospital – has circulated widely online and been stencilled as graffiti across Dhaka.
“We, the families of martyrs in the uprising, want to see her hanged as an example to future rulers,” Rahman said. “Let no government think it can turn its guns on children and walk away.”
Bangladesh’s first election since the fall of Hasina is due to take place in early February.
Her Awami League party has been banned from taking part and though most of its leaders are in jail or in hiding abroad, the party has vowed to cause mass unrest in response.
Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed told Reuters that though his mother would remain “safe” in Delhi after the verdict, Hasina would not sit back quietly. “She’s upset, angry, outraged,” he said. “And we are all determined to fight back by whatever means necessary.”
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| India's statement |
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