Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday rejected the International Crimes Tribunal’s (ICT) verdict sentencing her to death on charges of crimes against humanity, calling the judgment politically motivated and an assault on the country’s democratic order.
In a five-page statement issued soon after the ICT delivered its ruling, Hasina described the tribunal as “rigged”, alleging that extremist elements within the interim government were intent on removing her permanently from Bangladesh’s politics. The ruling, she claimed, had no legitimacy and reflected a broader attempt to dismantle the Awami League.
“The verdicts announced against me have been made by 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,” she said.
Hasina, 78, currently in India, dismissed the tribunal’s conclusion that she and senior party members ordered violence during the July–August unrest that gripped Bangladesh last year. She insisted neither she nor any Awami League leader instructed security forces to open fire on protestors.
Also read: Ex-PM Hasina sentenced to death for ‘crimes against humanity’
“For the record, 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 in Last year, on both sides of the political divide. But neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protestors,” she said, challenging the findings contained in the tribunal’s 453-page judgment.
She further criticised the conduct of the trial, saying she was denied even the minimum standards of legal defence. “I was given no fair chance to defend myself in court, nor even to have lawyers of my own choice represent me in absentia. Despite its name, there is nothing international in the ICT; nor is it in any way impartial,” she stated.
Hasina argued that ICT prosecutors failed to produce “persuasive evidence” linking her to any order permitting the use of lethal force.
The tribunal also sentenced former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death on similar charges. Former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who turned approver, received a five-year sentence, despite facing the same charges that legally draw capital punishment—after the three-member bench extended leniency.
With the verdict already attracting strong political reaction within Bangladesh and criticism from rights groups abroad, the interim government now faces heightened scrutiny over due process and the perceived weaponisation of judicial institutions.
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