Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death for crimes against humanity

Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh's ousted prime minister, has been sentenced to death after being convicted of crimes against humanity.

It follows a months-long trial in the country that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year.

The former leader, exiled in India, was tried in absentia after the United Nations said up to 1,400 people may have been killed in the violence.

Bangladesh's health adviser under the interim government said more than 800 people were killed and about 14,000 were injured.

The students initially started protesting over the way government jobs were being allocated, but clashes with police and pro-government activists quickly escalated into violence.

The court revealed conversations of Hasina directing security officers to drop bombs from helicopters on the protesters.

She also permitted the use of lethal weapons, including shotguns at close range for maximum harm, the court was told.

Hasina, who previously called the tribunal a "kangaroo court", fled to India in August 2024 at the height of the uprising, ending 15 years of rule.

In a statement released after the verdict, Hasina said the ruling was "biased and politically motivated".

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where evidence can be weighed and tested fairly," she added.

The 78-year-old is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the country to independence.

The International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh's domestic war crimes court located in the capital Dhaka, delivered its four-hour verdict amid tight security.

Hasina received a life sentence under charges for crimes against humanity and the death sentence for the killing of several people during the uprising.

The verdict, which was broadcast live on state television, can be appealed in the Supreme Court.

The packed courtroom cheered and clapped when the sentence was read out.

The tribunal also sentenced former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan - also exiled in India - to death.

A third suspect, a former police chief, was sentenced to five years in prison as he became a state witness against Hasina and pleaded guilty.

The ruling is the most dramatic legal action against a former Bangladeshi leader since independence in 1971 and comes ahead of parliamentary elections expected to be held in February.

Paramilitary border guards and police have been deployed in Dhaka and many other parts of the country, while the interim government warned any attempt to create disorder will be "strictly" dealt with.

It comes after Hasina's Awami League party called for a nationwide shutdown as part of a protest against the verdict.

The mood in the country had been described as tense ahead of Monday's ruling.

At least 30 crude bomb explosions and 26 vehicles were set on fire across Bangladesh during the past few days.

Hasina is also the aunt of former UK government minister, Tulip Saddiq, who resigned from her Treasury job at the start of this year.

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Ms Siddiq had faced calls to step down over links to her aunt and was also said to be facing a corruption trial in Bangladesh.

She told Sky News in August the accusations were "nothing more than a farce" and said she had never been contacted by the Bangladeshi authorities.

(c) Sky News 2025: Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death for crimes against humanity