Seven Hasina-era leaders sentenced to death
DHAKA: A Bangladesh court sentenced seven senior leaders of the former ruling party, including two ex-ministers, to death in absentia on Tuesday for their role in trying to crush the 2024 uprising.
The seven men, members of ousted leader Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League, were convicted of crimes against humanity including murder, as well as instigating and provoking killings.
They include the party’s former general secretary, Obaidul Quader, as well as fellow former minister Mohammad Ali Arafat. They were sentenced by a three-member tribunal headed by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury. “We are happy with the verdict,” said prosecutor Md Aminul Islam.
As many as 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024, according to the United Nations, when Hasina’s government attempted to suppress the student-led uprising.
27 AL activists arrested over alleged plans for subversive activities
Hasina’s 15-year, iron-fisted rule ended in August 2024, when she fled her palace by helicopter to neighbouring India — where she remains in hiding. She was sentenced to death by hanging in absentia in November 2025.
State-appointed defence lawyer M Hasan Imam said the seven men were not directly involved in the killings and that the court could have handed down a lesser sentence than death. “They were not directly involved in the killings, they have been convicted due to their fellow activists and supporters,” he said.
The other five men are AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash, Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil, Saddam Hussain and Sheikh Wali Asif Enan. The court also ordered that half the assets of five of the men be distributed as compensation to the families of those killed or injured in the uprising.
Tuesday’s sentencing brings the total number convicted in trials connected to the 2024 protests to 68. Of those, 22 have been sentenced to death, though only four are in custody. Hasina has refused to accept the authority of the court.
The government of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, which won a landslide victory in February in the first elections since Hasina was ousted, has requested her extradition. But Hasina, 78, has said she will return of her own volition to Bangladesh in December, despite the death sentence she faces.
58 AL leaders held
Police have arrested 58 leaders and activists of Awami League, whose activities are currently banned, in Jashore and Munshiganj, The Daily Star reported.
In Jashore, at least 27 AL leaders and activists were arrested during a special drive in different areas under nine police stations in the district on Monday night, said Mirazul Islam, additional superintendent of Jashore district police.
During the drive, police also recovered narcotics, crude bomb-like objects and bomb-making materials, Mirazul said. The drive was conducted based on information that the detainees were planning to carry out subversive activities in different parts of the district, he said.
The detainees were produced before a court this afternoon after police filed a case against them with Kotwali Police Station under the Explosive Substances Act, Mirazul said. The court later sent them to jail, the police official added.
In Munshiganj, police arrested 31 AL leaders and activists early today on charges of preparing for a flash procession.
Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2026
