Ousted Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina Delivered Her First Reaction To Death Sentence

17th November 2025 at 5:32 PM

1 minute read

New Delhi : Ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday delivered her first reaction to the death sentence handed to her by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), calling the ruling “biased, politically motivated. She criticised the proceedings held in her absence, saying she had “no fair chance to defend myself in court, nor even to have lawyers of my own choice represent me”.

According to her, “there is nothing international about the ICT; nor is it in any way impartial,” claiming the tribunal has “exclusively prosecuted members of the Awami League” while ignoring violence allegedly committed by political opponents. Former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan also received a death sentence, while a former police chief was given five years after turning state witness.

Rejecting the ruling, Hasina said that “no genuinely respected or professional jurist in the world would endorse the Bangladesh ICT,” arguing the court was being used to “remove Bangladesh’s last elected prime minister, and to nullify the Awami League as a political force”. She alleged peaceful demonstrators were shot and killed, and journalists faced harassment and torture. Hasina further alleged that Yunus’s forces oversaw retaliatory attacks across the country and destroyed hundreds of homes, businesses and properties belonging to Awami League leaders and activists.

She also challenged the widely quoted death toll of 1,400, insisting that Bangladesh’s own Ministry of Health had confirmed “614 families” as recipients of state support for martyrs, and criticised prosecutors for relying on “anonymous testimony from state employees under pressure. Hasina reiterated she was ready to face trial in a neutral international forum, saying: “I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly.”