In its first judgment with respect to the July uprising of 2024, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) on November 17, 2025, sentenced deposed Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina to death, in absentia. She was found guilty on five counts: murder, attempted murder, torture and other inhumane acts; ordering extermination by aerial and lethal means; the murder of Abu Sayed; shooting and killings at Chankharpul in Dhaka; and killings at Ashulia in Dhaka District. Former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal was also sentenced to death, while former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who testified as an approver, was given five years in prison.
Reading portions of the 453-page judgment, Tribunal Chief Justice Mohammad Golam Mortuza Mozumder observed,
As prime minister, Sheikh Hasina exercised ultimate authority over the law-enforcement chain – from the home minister to the inspector general of police. Given the pattern of impunity, the ongoing student protests, and the role of state and ruling party actors in the alleged atrocities, it is evident that she could not have been ignorant of these events.
After the verdict, ICT Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam stated, “The evidence would stand up to scrutiny in any court of the world and was sufficient to prove Hasina’s guilt. And it would have secured the same verdict.” On the contested casualty figures, the Chair noted the wide disparities, government gazettes, UN assessments, and other reports place deaths at 800, 1,000, or 1,400. He said such variations were “natural” in mass-atrocity situations, adding that even the post-1971 lists remain incomplete.
The tribunal also ordered the confiscation of all properties belonging to Hasina and Asaduzzaman in favour of the state.
Ironically, the ICT was formed to try the War Crimes of 1971, under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina in March, 2010. The death sentences of top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) who were executed – Abdul Quader Mollah (hanged in 2013); Ali Ahsan Mujaheed (hanged in 2015); Matiur Rahman Nizami (hanged in 2016); Mir Quasem Ali (hanged in 2016) – also came from this court. After Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power, the Interim Government reconstituted the tribunal to try crimes against humanity committed during the July Movement.
The proceedings of the reconstituted International Crimes Tribunal commenced on October 17, 2024, with the first case filed against Sheikh Hasina, and an arrest warrant issued against her on the same day. Hasina was initially the only accused in the case. On March 16, 2025, Al-Mamun was also made an accused along with her. After multiple extensions, the Tribunal’s investigation agency submitted its report to the Chief Prosecutor’s Office on May 12, 2025. Asaduzzaman Khan’s name first appeared as an accused in the investigation report on the same day, taking the number of accused up to three.
The trial against Hasina is likely to catalyse the worsening of an already difficult law and order situation in Bangladesh. As reported on November 2, 2025, at least 281 people have been killed in violence involving political parties from August 2024 to September 2025. In addition, there have been at least another 40 extrajudicial killings. Communal and sectarian violence has also been ‘normalized’, with frequent incidents, openly provoked by increasingly strident Islamist formations. Just a day before the verdict, on November 16, enforcement agencies clashed with anti-Hasina demonstrators in and around Dhanmondi-32, Dhaka, as the latter attempted to demolish the remaining parts of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s house. In a combined effort, Army, Police, the Rapid Action Battalion, and Border Guard Bangladesh defended the site, using truncheons, sound grenades, and teargas shells to disperse the violent crowd. After ICT-1 delivered its verdict, the celebratory demonstrations grew increasingly boisterous and, around 2:45pm, security personnel were forced to pull back amid pressure from the protestors. About 20 minutes later, Security Forces resumed the use of truncheons and sound grenades, restoring control.
The Awami League (banned on May 10, 2025) had also called a two-day “complete shutdown” till November 19. As reported on November 18 (today), more than 50 arson and crude bomb attacks were reported nationwide over the preceding week, leaving at least three people dead. Violence was reported in Kishoreganj, Netrokona, Chittagong, Dhaka, and Narayanganj districts.
The verdict has been welcomed by all radical Islamist parties. Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis and Hefazat-e-Islam stated that the verdict would send a warning to future fascists. An Islami Andolan Bangladesh statement called on the Interim Government to complete all remaining legal procedures and take steps to carry out the verdict without delay. Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis declared that the ICT verdict would serve as an example against the use of state power to murder and abduct citizens. Hefazat-e-Islam asserted that justice had been served and peace had reached the families of the martyrs. Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Bangladesh also welcomed the verdict. Jamaat-e-Islami has urged India to return Hasina, with the Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar declaring, “If one claims to behave as a good neighbour, if one aspires to maintain friendly relations, this is their foremost responsibility [to ensure Hasina’s return].”
Also, the other political entities, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, National Citizen Party and the Biplobi Workers Party welcomed the verdict. NCP demanded that Hasina’s death sentence be carried out within a month and insisted that the Awami League, as a political party, also be brought to trial.
The death sentence awarded to Sheikh Hasina, the democratically elected Prime Minister, by the re-branded ICT of a care-taker set-up is a blow to the little that remains of the free, secular and progressive character of Bangladesh. A template has been instituted for action against those who oppose the dogmas of religious fundamentalists and extremists, who have now come to dominate the country.
