On November 17, 2025, a special tribunal in Dhaka convicted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and sentenced her to death in absentia for “crimes against humanity” linked to the violent suppression of a student-led uprising in 2024.

The verdict represents one of the most dramatic legal actions in Bangladesh’s history, marking the first time a former premier has been so severely punished by the International Crimes Tribunal‑1 (ICT-1).

The tribunal found that Hasina, along with her former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, was “the mastermind and principal architect” of the crackdown that left hundreds (and by some estimates up to 1,400) people dead.

Hasina, at the time ousted from office and living in exile in India, claimed the process was politically motivated, calling the tribun

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