Int'l Crimes Tribunal sentences Sheikh Hasina, Kamal to death

The International Crimes Tribunal has sentenced ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death on multiple charges of crimes against humanity over the deadly crackdown on the July Uprising, marking a dramatic reversal of fortune for the leader who established the very court that has now condemned her.

Judges began reading out the 453-page verdict around 12:40pm on Monday, taking more than two hours to deliver the much-anticipated ruling in the case that centred on her bid to crush the student-led protest movement. The sentence puts a capstone on Sheikh Hasina's fall from power after she fled to India in the face of a mass uprising on Aug 5, 2024, making her the first former head of a Bangladesh government to be handed the death penalty.

The ruling also coincides with the anniversary of her wedding to nuclear scientist MA Wazed Miah, whom she married on Nov 17, 1967.

The tribunal also handed down the death penalty to Asaduzzaman Khan, who served as the home minister in Hasina's government, for his involvement in the case, reports bdnews24.com.

Meanwhile, Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, the police chief at the time of the July Uprising, was also convicted in the case, but had his sentence reduced to five years in prison after turning state witness.

The case centred on five charges brought against the accused, including allegations of incitement, provocation and orders to kill during the July Uprising, as well as "superior command responsibility" and participation in a "joint criminal enterprise" that prosecutors said led to the deaths of 1,400 people.

On the first charge, involving incitement, the tribunal found that Hasina had delivered "provocative" statements that encouraged the killing of student protesters and members of the public. She was convicted of incitement, provocation, aiding and abetting, participation, and failing to prevent the crimes, and was sentenced to life imprisonment on that count.

But it was the second, fourth and fifth charges, all of which the judges said had been proven beyond doubt, that together drew the death sentence.

These included authorising the use of helicopters, drones and lethal weapons to "kill and eliminate" demonstrators, ordering the shooting of six unarmed protesters in Dhaka's Chankharpul area, and responsibility for the killing of six student activists in Ashulia, five of whom were shot and then burnt, while the sixth was burnt alive.

Meanwhile, the tribunal found former home minister Asaduzzaman guilty of abetting, and failing to prevent, the killing of six unarmed protesters in Chankharpul, as well as aiding and failing to stop the killing and burning of five student activists in Ashulia.

The court, however, handed Mamun a "lenient" sentence owing to his cooperation with the prosecution in the case. The judgment noted that Mamun had assisted and failed to prevent the killings in both Chankharpul and Ashulia. But he was given a reduced five-year sentence after turning state witness.

The court said that Mamun had provided a "complete and truthful account" of events and had accepted responsibility for his role, which the judges described as "a significant contribution" to the case.

The tribunal ordered the confiscation of the assets belonging to Hasina and Asaduzzaman in a verdict concerning a case filed over the charge of massacre during the Uprising.

After announcing the maximum penalty for Hasina and Kamal, the verdict stated: "The property located in Bangladesh belonging to the accused Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal shall be confiscated in favour of the state."

Simultaneously, the court also instructed the government in the verdict to provide a "significant amount" of compensation to the protesters killed during the Uprising who are related to the case.

The judges directed the government to ensure that those injured in the July Uprising are also provided "adequate compensation" based on the nature of their injuries.

In a strongly worded statement issued after the sentencing, Hasina rejected all charges. She castigated the International Crimes Tribunal for denying her and the Awami League a "fair chance to defend themselves".

NDTV quoted her as saying that the verdict exposed "the brazen and murderous intent of extremist figures in an unelected government".

She further accused the tribunal and its members of bias, alleging that its judges and lawyers had "publicly expressed sympathy for the current administration".

"I mourn all of the deaths that occurred in July and August of last year, on both sides of the political divide. But neither I nor any other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters," Hasina said.

She went on to criticise the ICT, arguing that there is "nothing international about the tribunal, nor is it impartial".

Citing what the report described as incontrovertible facts, Hasina claimed that judges and advocates who had previously expressed sympathy were "removed or intimidated into silence", that the tribunal "exclusively" prosecuted members of the Awami League, and that it failed "to prosecute or even investigate perpetrators from other parties of violence against religious minorities and others".

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