Bangladesh’s fugitive PM sentenced to death

A Bangladesh war crimes court sentenced ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death on Monday, concluding a months-long trial that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year, Reuters writes.

The ruling comes months ahead of parliamentary elections expected to be held in early February.

Hasina’s Awami League party has been barred from contesting and it is feared that Monday’s verdict could stoke fresh unrest ahead of the vote.

The International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes court located in the capital Dhaka, delivered the verdict amid tight security and in Hasina’s absence after she fled to India in August 2024.

Hasina got a life sentence under charges for crimes against humanity and the death sentence for the killing of several people during the uprising.

The verdict can be appealed in the Supreme Court.

According to a United Nations report, up to 1,400 people may have been killed during the protests between July 15 and Aug. 5, 2024, with thousands more injured — most of them by gunfire from security forces.