Published: 11:58 PM, 15 September 2026
Ex Bangladesh Ministers, Party Leaders Sentenced to Execution Over July Crackdown
Condemned convicts: AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader, former State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat, AL Joint General Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Jubo League Chairman Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash and its General Secretary Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil, and banned BCL President Saddam Hossain and General Secretary Sheikh Wali Asif Enan. -Collected
Seven senior leaders and high-ranking officials of Bangladesh's activity-banned Awami League have been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity following their roles in ordering and inciting violent crackdowns during the July 2024 mass uprising.
In a landmark verdict handed down on Tuesday by the International Crimes Tribunal-2, a three-member judicial panel chaired by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury-alongside Judge Md. Monjurul Basid and Judge Nur Mohammad Shahriar Kabir-ruled that the defendants orchestrated a coordinated campaign of state-backed force and deadly violence against unarmed student protesters and civilians.
All seven individuals were prosecuted in absentia and remain at large: Obaidul Quader: General Secretary of the Awami League and former Minister of Road Transport and Bridges A. F. M. Bahauddin Nasim: Joint General Secretary of the Awami League Mohammad Ali Arafat: Former Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash: President of the Jubo League Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil: General Secretary of the Jubo League Saddam Hossain: President of the Chhatra League Wali Asif Inan: General Secretary of the Chhatra League The prosecution successfully established that the accused deployed armed political cadres alongside state police units to systematically extinguish peaceful democratic demonstrations.
The judgment marks a significant moment in the ongoing post-uprising judicial proceedings in Dhaka, setting a legal precedent for holding top political leadership accountable for human rights abuses and state-sanctioned violence. Law enforcement agencies have been directed to track down and detain the absconding convicts to carry out the sentence.
It may be recalled that the July Uprising in 2024 was initially brought about by students who denounced quotas in government jobs but later on people from different walks of life joined the historical demonstrations. A great deal of demonstrators got killed during the agitations. A lot of law and order forces personnel were also killed during those turbulent days. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina moved to India on 5 August 2024 as a result of the intractable protests.
