On 17 November, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) convicted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and two co-defendants for their role in violently suppressing mass protests in July-August 2024 that ultimately forced Hasina from power. The verdicts are the ICT’s first under Bangladesh’s interim government – sworn in three days after Hasina fled to India – and more are expected. The panel handed down death sentences in absentia to Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, also believed to be abroad. A third co-defendant, former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, received a five-year prison term after providing evidence for the prosecution.

Delivering justice for atrocities committed during the 2024 unrest has been one of the interim government’s top priorities, and a guilty verdict was widely expected for Hasina, whose fifteen-year rule turned increasingly authoritarian. In February 2025, a UN fact-finding mission reported that as many as 1,400 people died during the protests and the government crackdown occurred “with the full knowledge, coordination and direction of the politicalleadership”. Media outlets have published recordings of Hasina seemingly saying she had given orders to shoot protesters.

Human rights groups and some prominent commentators have described the process as rushed and raised concerns about procedural fairness, not least because the trial was in absentia. The loudest complaints have come from Hasina herself; in recent weeks, the former prime minister embarked on a public relations campaign aimed at undermining the tribunal and the allegations against her. In written interviews with half-a-dozen major news outlets, she played down last year’s crackdown, denied ordering security forces to fire on protesters, and described the trial as a “farce”. After the 17 November verdict, she insisted she was “very proud” of her human rights record and described the ICT as “rigged”.

Many Bangladeshis seemed to approve of the decision; there were even celebrations on some university campuses. Hasina’s cause has not been helped by a spate of recent bombings that police have blamed on activists from her party, the Awami League, which has been barred from political activities at least until the trials are over. These attacks, and the party’s call for a nationwide “lockdown” ahead of the verdict, have added to political tensions as the country prepares for a much-anticipated national election in February.

The political repercussions of the 17 November verdict could be messy. The prospects for the 78-year-old Hasina mounting a political comeback are slim, but she will remain influential, including through her control of the Awami League. Dhaka will likely bar the party from politics, despite its millions of supporters, unless and until it has a new leader. India meanwhile is unlikely to extradite Hasina to Bangladesh for fear of seeming disloyal in front of other regional partners. The former prime minister’s outspokenness from abroad will also be a constant irritant in the relationship between Bangladesh and New Delhi, its most important international partner. Friction could build if Hasina encourages her supporters to disrupt the February election and create obstacles for the incoming government.