Fifteen years after establishing the International Crimes Tribunal in 2010 to prosecute atrocities committed during the 1971 Liberation War, Sheikh Hasina has now been sentenced to death by that same court. The former prime minister, ousted in the July uprising, was convicted of crimes against humanity linked to the events during that period.
During the Awami League’s tenure, two tribunals delivered verdicts in 55 cases. Six senior convicts have been executed so far—five of them top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami. BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury was also executed following a conviction by the tribunal.
After the fall of Hasina’s government on August 5, 2024, the reconstituted tribunal has prioritized cases involving killings and other alleged crimes against humanity during the July uprising. Investigations are also underway into disappearances and extrajudicial killings attributed to the Awami League era.
In a striking twist, Sheikh Hasina herself received a six-month jail sentence from the same tribunal in a contempt of court case. An audio clip circulating online, in which she allegedly claimed to have “a license to kill 226 people,” was deemed an attempt to influence judicial proceedings. Acting on a petition from the prosecution, the tribunal handed down the contempt sentence.