A Bangladesh court on Monday sentenced ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to be hanged for crimes against humanity, with cheers breaking out in the packed court as the judge read out the verdict.
Sheikh Hasina, 78, defied court orders that she return from India to attend her trial about whether she ordered a deadly crackdown against a student-led uprising last year that eventually ousted her.
The highly anticipated ruling, which was broadcast live on national television, comes less than three months ahead of the first polls since her overthrow in August 2024.
"All the... elements constituting crimes against humanity have been fulfilled," judge Golam Mortuza Mozumder read to the packed court in Dhaka.
The former leader had been 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."
On the streets of Dhaka, crowds waved the national flag and celebrated.
Former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal was also sentenced to death in absentia, after being found guilty on four counts of crimes against humanity.
Ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who was in court and had pleaded guilty, was sentenced to five years' imprisonment.
But Hasina is far from harm. She defied orders to return to Bangladesh for the sentencing and chose to stay in India. Hasina had correctly predicted the court's verdict days before the hearing, calling it a 'jurisprudential joke.' She of course denies all charges.
Bangladesh has been on edge in the days leading up to the verdict. Security was beefed up in Dhaka and beyond as Hasina’s Awami League called for a nationwide shutdown to protest against the action.
Security forces surrounded the court with armoured vehicles manning checkpoints. Almost half the city's 34,000 police officers were on duty as the verdict was announced. In fact, paramilitary border guards were also deployed in Dhaka. The police had a 'shoot-on-sight' order for anyone who attempted to torch vehicles or hurl crude bombs.
While Bangladesh's national capital is prepared, several episodes of violence have been reported in the city. Nearly 50 arson attacks and dozens of explosions of crude bombs have been reported in Bangladesh over the past week.
