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DHAKA – In anticipation of the imminent verdict against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s interim government has heightened security measures across the capital and other regions. Hasina faces serious charges related to crimes against humanity stemming from last year’s uprising, which claimed hundreds of lives and concluded her 15-year tenure.
Authorities have deployed paramilitary border guards and police forces in Dhaka and various parts of the nation. Meanwhile, Hasina’s Awami League party has organized a nationwide shutdown to protest the tribunal’s proceedings, dismissing it as a “kangaroo court.”
The special tribunal has called for the death penalty for Hasina, who is currently residing in India, as well as for former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, who is also believed to be in India. A third individual, a former police chief, has cooperated with the authorities by becoming a state witness and pleading guilty, thus escaping any recommended penalty. All three verdicts are anticipated on Monday.
Sheikh Hasina and Khan are accused of crimes against humanity related to the deaths of hundreds during a student-led uprising in mid-2024. According to a UN report from February, the death toll could be as high as 1,400, while the interim government’s health adviser reported over 800 fatalities and approximately 14,000 injuries. Both Hasina and Khan are being tried in their absence.
Leading up to the verdict, the tribunal’s decision to announce it on Monday coincides with a surge of unrest, marked by crude bomb explosions and arson, which has disrupted educational activities and public transportation, following the Awami League’s call for a “lockdown.”
As the tribunal was set to convene Monday morning, the former ruling party called for the shutdown again, with Hasina in an audio message urging her supporters not to be “nervous” about the verdict. Hasina has survived at least 19 assassination attempts during her decades-long political career since 1981.
The verdict is set to come as local media reported new explosions of crude bombs in Dhaka, including one in front of the house of an adviser, equivalent to a Cabinet minister, on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Dhaka’s police chief Sheikh Mohammad Sazzat Ali issued a “shoot-on-sight” order if anyone attempts to torch vehicles or hurl crude bombs. The directive came as nearly 50 arson attacks, mostly targeting vehicles, and dozens of explosions of crude bombs have been reported nationwide over the past week. Two people were killed in the arson attacks, local media reported.
Authorities at the Supreme Court, in a letter to army headquarters on Sunday, requested the deployment of soldiers around the tribunal premises ahead of the verdict.
The prosecution said the tribunal’s deliberation of the verdict could be broadcast live on the state-run Bangladesh Television and other TV stations channels.
Hasina was ousted on Aug. 5 last year and fled to India. Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over as the head of an interim government three days after her fall. Yunus vowed to punish Hasina and banned the activities of her Awami League party.
Both Hasina and her party have called the special tribunal a “kangaroo court” and denounced the appointment of a lawyer by the state to represent her.
Yunus said his interim government would hold the next elections in February, and that Hasina’s party would not get a chance to contest the race.
Bangladesh’s politics under Yunus has remained at a crossroads with limited signs of stability.
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