Dhaka: A special tribunal in Bangladesh is expected to deliver its verdict today in a crimes against humanity case against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is currently in India.
Hasina faces allegations of ordering excessive force during anti‑government protests that erupted in July 2024, leaving more than 1,400 people dead, according to UN investigators. Relatives of those killed were present in the courtroom as the tribunal prepared to announce its decision.
Authorities in Dhaka have imposed tight security measures ahead of the verdict. Police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel have been deployed across key areas of the capital to prevent unrest.
The charges against Hasina include accusations that she masterminded the killing of hundreds of protesters. Her party, the Awami League, has strongly denied the allegations, calling them politically motivated.
Earlier this year, the BBC confirmed an audio recording allegedly from Hasina’s phone, leaked online in March, in which she can be heard authorizing security forces to “use lethal weapons and shoot wherever they see them” against demonstrators. The recording, reportedly between Hasina and a senior government official, is seen as the most significant evidence linking her directly to the crackdown on student‑led protests.
The tribunal’s verdict is expected to have major political repercussions in Bangladesh, where Hasina ruled for over a decade before leaving office in 2024.