Death Penalty Sought for Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina over Protest Crackdown

Published: 17 October 2025. The English Chronicle Desk. English Chronicle Online

In a historic and highly charged legal proceeding, prosecutors in Bangladesh have demanded the death penalty for former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, accusing her of ordering a brutal military and police crackdown on student-led protests that left up to 1,400 people dead last year and ultimately brought an end to her 15-year rule.

Hasina, who fled to neighbouring India in August 2024, is being tried in absentia for crimes against humanity. The prosecution alleges that the former leader directly instructed security forces to “use lethal weapons” against unarmed demonstrators, an order they claim was captured in a leaked audio recording submitted as evidence. Hasina has categorically denied the charges, dismissing them as politically motivated and part of an orchestrated campaign to erase her political legacy.

Chief prosecutor Tajul Islam told the Dhaka tribunal on Thursday that Hasina deserved “1,400 death sentences — one for every life lost” during the unrest, but that since such punishment was “not humanly possible,” the state sought “at least one” death penalty verdict. “Her only goal was to cling to power permanently, for herself and her family,” Islam told the court. “She has become a hardened criminal and shows no remorse for the brutality she has unleashed upon her own people.”

The mass protests that culminated in Hasina’s downfall began in July 2024, sparked by anger over a controversial quota system that reserved government jobs for the descendants of 1971 Liberation War veterans. What began as a student protest rapidly transformed into a nationwide uprising demanding an end to her government’s rule, which critics said had grown increasingly authoritarian.

The most violent episode occurred on 5 August 2024, the day Hasina fled Bangladesh aboard a military helicopter as tens of thousands of protesters marched on her official residence in Dhaka. That day, police opened fire on crowds in one of the city’s busiest districts, killing at least 52 people, according to an extensive BBC investigation. The event remains one of the bloodiest incidents of police violence in the country’s history.

Prosecutors argue that Hasina and her top officials orchestrated a systematic campaign to suppress dissent, with orders issued directly from the Prime Minister’s Office. Alongside Hasina, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and ex-Police Chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun are also facing trial. Kamal, who is believed to be in hiding, is likewise facing a demand for the death penalty, while Chowdhury pleaded guilty in July but has not yet been sentenced.

The defence, led by a state-appointed attorney in Hasina’s absence, contends that police were forced to open fire only after protesters turned violent, attacking officers and destroying government property. The lawyer argued that the former prime minister had “no intention” of targeting civilians and that her removal was the result of “a political coup disguised as a popular revolution.”

Since her ousting, Hasina has already been convicted in a separate contempt of court case and sentenced to six months in prison. She also faces a series of corruption charges that could further complicate her prospects should she attempt a political comeback.

Hasina’s Awami League, once the dominant force in Bangladeshi politics, has been formally banned from all political activity, including participation in elections. With the country set to hold its next national polls in February 2026, her rival party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), is now the clear frontrunner to form the next government.

The unfolding trial has sent shockwaves through South Asia, drawing mixed international reactions. While human rights groups have called for an independent investigation into the 2024 violence, some observers have expressed concern that the judicial process could deepen divisions within an already fractured nation.

For millions of Bangladeshis, the case marks an extraordinary fall from grace for a leader who once presided over an era of economic growth and stability but whose later years became synonymous with repression, corruption, and political unrest. As the trial continues, the nation watches closely — torn between a desire for justice and the fear that a death sentence for its former leader could reopen old wounds in a country still healing from the bloodshed of its past.