Bangladesh is on edge as a special tribunal is set to decide the fate of its former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. A verdict on November 17 will determine if she committed crimes against humanity in her own country.
Hasina now faces if a death penalty is she if convicted. And she has said the court may already be sitting on a 'pre-ordained guilty verdict.'
Hasina has taken refuge in India since last year, after she hastily fled the country during the deadly crackdown. To one one's surprise, she refused to come back to Bangladesh for the trial.
Speaking to BBC just days before the announcement, Hasina categorically denied all accusations and said she never issued an order to shoot unarmed civilians.
"I'm not denying that the situation got out of control, nor that many lives were lost needlessly. But I never issued any order to fire on unarmed civilians," she said.
Speaking about the trial, Hasina said she hadn't been able to defend herself or appoint her own lawyers.
She added her political opponents had gone after her in an attempt to "liquidate" her Awami League party as a political force.
Sheikh Hasina vs Bangladesh
Prosecutors have filed five charges, including failure to prevent murder, amounting to crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law.
"We hope the court will exercise its prudence and wisdom, that the thirst for justice will be fulfilled, and that this verdict will mark an end to crimes against humanity," Islam added.
Hasina has denied all the charges and called her trial a "jurisprudential joke".
Her co-accused include former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal -- also a fugitive -- and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who is in custody and has pleaded guilty.
Tensions are high as parties gear up for elections slated for February.
Hasina's outlawed Awami League had called for a nationwide "lockdown" on Thursday, and there was a heavy deployment of security forces around the court, with armoured vehicles manning checkpoints.
A string of crude bombs have been set off across Dhaka this month, mainly petrol bombs hurled at everything from buildings linked to the government of interim leader Muhammad Yunus to buses and Christian sites.
