Bangladesh tribunal sentences Sheikh Hasina to dying : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5696x3784+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F43%2F70%2F97a0284c4f95a85d37c869178815%2Fap25317160029809.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5696x3784+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F43%2F70%2F97a0284c4f95a85d37c869178815%2Fap25317160029809.jpg" class="img" alt="Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina speaks during a press conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Jan. 6, 2014." fetchpriority="high"/> Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina speaks throughout a press convention in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Jan. 6, 2014. Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP conceal caption

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Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP DHAKA, Bangladesh — A particular tribunal sentenced Bangladesh's ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and certainly one of her shut aides to dying on fees of crimes towards humanity for her crackdown on a pupil rebellion final yr that killed a whole lot of individuals and led to the toppling of her 15-year rule.

The Worldwide Crimes Tribunal based mostly in Dhaka, the capital, sentenced Hasina and former Residence Minister Asaduzzaman Khan to dying for his or her involvement in using lethal power towards protesters.

Each Hasina and Khan fled to India final yr and had been sentenced in absentia.

A 3rd suspect, a former police chief, was sentenced to 5 years in jail after changing into a state witness towards Hasina and pleading responsible.

Hasina and Khan had been accused of crimes towards humanity for the killing of a whole lot of individuals throughout a student-led rebellion in July and August of 2024. The nation's well being adviser below the nation's present interim authorities stated greater than 800 individuals had been killed and about 14,000 had been injured. The United Nations in a February report estimated that as much as 1,400 might have been killed.

Hasina's response Hasina says the fees are unjustified, arguing that she and Khan "acted in good religion and had been making an attempt to attenuate the lack of life."

"We misplaced management of the scenario, however to characterize what occurred as a premeditated assault on residents is solely to misinterpret the info," she stated Monday in a press release denouncing a verdict she known as "biased and politically motivated."

"I mourn all the deaths that occurred in July and August of final yr, on each side of the political divide," she stated. "However neither I nor different political leaders ordered the killing of protesters."

Hasina can't attraction the decision except she surrenders or is arrested inside 30 days of the judgment.

The decision comes because the nation nonetheless grapples with instability after Hasina was ousted on Aug. 5, 2024. Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over as the top of an interim authorities three days after her fall. Yunus has vowed to punish Hasina and banned the actions of her Awami League occasion forward of elections set for February.

A 3-member tribunal, headed by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder, introduced the tribunal's ruling, a session that was broadcast reside and lasted hours.

A few of these within the packed courtroom cheered when Mazumder introduced the dying penalty for Hasina. He admonished them, telling them to specific their emotions outdoors the courtroom.

Many households of the killed and the injured throughout final yr's rebellion waited for hours outdoors the tribunal.

Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed, at the moment in the USA, stated in message to The Related Press that the "verdict is a joke and meaningless. My mom is secure in India. The trials had been so legally flawed they will not survive any problem as soon as rule of legislation returns to Bangladesh."

Exile in India In a media assertion Monday, Bangladesh's Ministry of Residence Affairs urged India to ship each Hasina and Khan again quickly.

India's international ministry in a press release acknowledged the tribunal's verdict however fell wanting stating whether or not it could hand them over to Dhaka.

"As an in depth neighbor, India stays dedicated to the very best pursuits of individuals of Bangladesh, together with in peace, democracy, inclusion and stability in that nation. We are going to at all times interact constructively with all stakeholders to that finish," it stated.

India beforehand had not responded to requests by Bangladesh to extradite Hasina and Khan to face trial.

India's failure to extradite the pair has created some tensions between the neighboring nations.

Tensions earlier than and after the decision Tensions and disruptions had grown within the nation in current days forward of the decision.

Almost 50 arson assaults, principally concentrating on autos, and dozens of crude bombs explosions had been reported nationwide over the previous week. Two individuals had been killed within the arson assaults, native media reported.The interim authorities beefed up safety forward of the decision, with paramilitary border guards and police deployed in Dhaka and lots of different elements of the nation.

Hasina's Awami League occasion known as for a nationwide shutdown to protest the decision on Monday.

Just a few kilometers away from the tribunal, Hasina's opponents on Monday gathered outdoors her father's home-turned-museum to demolish the remainder of the institution, which was looted and broken earlier. They introduced two excavators to demolish the constructing.

Police charged with batons and used stun grenades to disperse the gang even because the judges had been nonetheless studying out the decision.

Within the night greater than 300 individuals had been nonetheless there and burned tires on streets because the safety officers took their place.

Authorities on the Supreme Court docket, in a letter to military headquarters on Sunday, requested the deployment of troopers across the tribunal premises forward of the decision.

Yunus stated his interim authorities would maintain the nation's subsequent elections in February, and that Hasina's occasion wouldn't get an opportunity to contest the race.