• Court hands down capital punishment to ex-PM and former interior minister in absentia
• New Delhi says it has ‘noted verdict’

DHAKA: Bangladesh on Monday demanded India extradite ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, hours after she was sentenced to hang for crimes against humanity.

Hasina’s autocratic rule was backed by New Delhi, and the 78-year-old fled to India after her ouster in a mass uprising in August 2024, fraying relations between the two neighbours. She has been in hiding ever since.

Earlier in the day, a court in Dhaka sentenced Hasina as well as former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death in absentia, after being found guilty of crimes against humanity over a deadly crackdown against last year’s student-led uprising.

“All the... elements constituting crimes against humanity have been fulfilled,” judge Golam Mortuza Mozumder read to the court.

The former leader was found guilty on three counts: incitement, order to kill, and inaction to prevent the atrocities, the judge said.

“We have decided to inflict her with only one sentence — that is, sentence of death.”

Crowds waved the national flag and celebrated on the streets of the capital.

Ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who was in court and had pleaded guilty, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.

Hasina, who was assigned a state-appointed lawyer for the trial, called the verdict “biased and politically motivated” in a statement issued from hiding in India.

“Its guilty verdict against me was a foregone conclusion,” Hasina said.

She can appeal against her sentence — if she is arrested or surrenders, her defence lawyer Md Amir Hossain said.

Shamsi Ara Zaman, whose photojournalist son Tahir Zaman Priyo was killed during last year’s protests, said she was “satisfied” with the death sentences but “dismayed” that the ex-police chief was given only five years in jail.

India’s response

India’s foreign ministry said that it had “noted the verdict” of Hasina.

“India remains committed to the best interests of the people of Bangladesh, including in peace, democracy, inclusion and stability,” its ministry said in a statement that does not directly address the issue of potential extradition.

Hasina’s 15-year tenure saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.

Bangladesh last year said it would request an Interpol red notice for Hasina, but there was no record on the global police body alert law enforcement list.

The country has been in political turmoil since the end of Hasina’s autocratic rule, and violence has marred campaigning for elections expected in February 2026.

The United Nations says up to 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns as Hasina tried to cling to power, deaths that were central to her trial.

Historic verdict

Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman said the trial “pays the dues to the martyrs”. Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus welcomed the verdict.

“The awarding of death sentences to Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal in the crimes against humanity case is a historic verdict,” he said in a statement.

He called for calm and warned against any “attempt to violate public order”, urging “everyone to refrain from any indisciplined acts”.

The UN said Hasina’s sentencing for crimes against humanity marked “an important moment for victims”, but she should not have been sentenced to death.

Since publishing the report, “we have been calling for perpetrators — including individuals in positions of command and leadership — to be held accountable in accordance with international standards”, rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.

“We have also called for victims to have access to effective remedies and reparation,” she added.

However, she stressed that the office had also “consistently advocated for all accountability proceedings — especially on charges of international crimes — to unquestionably meet international standards of due process and fair trial”.

“We ... regret the imposition of the death penalty, which we oppose in all circumstances.” the spokeswoman added.

Deepening crisis

Security forces surrounded the court for the verdict, with armoured vehicles guarding checkpoints and thousands of police officers posted across the capital.

Crude bombs have been set off across Dhaka this month, mainly petrol bombs hurled at everything from buildings linked to Yunus’s government to buses and Christian sites.

The International Crisis Group said the “political repercussions of this verdict are significant”, arguing that the prospect of Hasina “mounting a political comeback in Bangladesh now appears very slim”.

“The process has not been without critics,” ICG analyst Thomas Kean said.

“In absentia trials are often a source of contention, and in this case the speed with which the hearings were conducted and the apparent lack of resources for the defence also raise questions of fairness... But they should not be used to downplay or deflect from Sheikh Hasina’s actions.”

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2025