Bangladesh | Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Gets Death Penalty for 'crimes against humanity'

Sheikh Hasina, 78, was sentenced to death for 'crimes against humanity' committed during last year's anti-government agitation that led to the fall of her Awami League government.

As Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal announced a death penalty for former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the courtroom erupted into loud applause. Many people were seen clapping, smiling, and cheering inside the court, while some made a praying gesture.

A few people were also seen crying.

The applause lasted for a few seconds before the judges requested those present inside to maintain court decorum.

Hasina, 78, was sentenced to death for 'crimes against humanity' committed during last year's anti-government agitation that led to the fall of her Awami League government. The court found Hasina guilty on three counts - incitement, order to kill, and inaction to prevent the atrocities.

"We have decided to inflict her with only one sentence - that is, the sentence of death," Judge Golam Mortuza Mozumder said.

The three-member tribunal, headed by Mozumder, also pronounced the judgment against the 78-year-old leader's aides - ex-home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun - over the same charges.

Hasina and Kamal have been declared fugitives and tried in absentia, while Mamun initially faced trial in person before turning approver.

Under the ICT-BD law, Hasina cannot appeal the verdict unless she returns or is arrested within 30 days.

According to the United Nations, up to 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns as Hasina tried to cling to power.

The former Bangladesh PM fled to India on a self-imposed exile on August 5, 2024, as tens of thousands of violent protesters marched towards her residence in Dhaka and ousted her, ending her 15-year-long tenure. She has since then lived in a secret safe house in Delhi. She had defied the tribunal's orders to face trial for ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising.

Hasina was tried in absentia and has been living in exile in India since being forced from power. The verdict will put India under pressure to extradite Hasina, but it is unlikely to do so.

Hasina's First reaction

Ex-Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina responded fiercely after being sentenced to death, in absentia, by that country's International Crimes Tribunal for "crimes against humanity". The verdict revealed "the brazen and murderous intent of extremist figures in an unelected government", she said.

Hasina also denied all charges and criticised the court for not giving her Awami League Party and herself a "fair chance to defend themselves". She also accused the tribunal and its members of bias, pointing out its judges and lawyers had "publicly expressed sympathy for the current administration".

"For the record, I wholly deny the accusations that have been made against me in the ICT. I mourn all of the deaths that occurred in July and August of last year, on both sides of the political divide. But neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters," Sheikh Hasina said.

"... I was given no fair chance to defend myself in court, nor even to have lawyers of my own choice represent me in absentia. Despite its name, there is nothing 'international' about the ICT... Nor is it impartial," she said in a statement issued minutes after the verdict, tearing into "rigged" proceedings.

Background

Sheikh Hasina served as Bangladesh's prime minister from 1996–2001 and 2009–2024, driving economic growth, infrastructure, and women's empowerment, but faced accusations of authoritarianism, including election rigging, media curbs, and human rights violations.

In August 2024, student protests over job quotas sparked a nationwide uprising, forcing her flight to exile in India.

On November 17, 2025, Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal sentenced the 78-year-old Hasina to death in absentia for crimes against humanity in the 2024 protest crackdown, which killed at least 1,400—mostly via security forces' mass shootings and disappearances from July 15–August 15.

The post-ouster trial, with over 100 witnesses, also condemned former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death. Supporters decry it as political revenge; the interim government hails it as justice. The ruling has spiked tensions, boosting security amid unrest fears.

Source: ndtv, Staff, November 17, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

Israel passes death penalty law for terrorists convicted of deadly attacks

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s parliament on Monday passed a law approving the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis, a measure that has been harshly condemned by the international community and rights groups as discriminatory and inhumane. The passage of the bill marked the culmination of a years-long drive by the far-right to escalate punishment for Palestinians convicted of nationalistic offenses against Israelis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the Knesset to vote for the bill in person. The law makes the death penalty — by hanging — the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted of nationalistic killings. It also gives Israeli courts the option of imposing the death penalty on Israeli citizens convicted on similar charges — language that legal experts say effectively confines those who can be sentenced to death to Palestinian citizens of Israel and excludes Jewish citizens.

20 Minutes to Death: Witness to the Last Execution in France

The following document is a firsthand account of the final moments of Hamida Djandoubi, a convicted murderer executed by guillotine at Marseille’s Baumettes Prison on September 10, 1977. The record—dated September 9—was written by Monique Mabelly, a judge appointed by the state to witness the proceedings. Djandoubi’s execution would ultimately be the last carried out in France before capital punishment was abolished in 1981. At the time, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing—who had publicly voiced his "deep aversion to the death penalty" prior to his election—rejected Djandoubi’s appeal for clemency. Choosing to let "justice take its course," the President allowed the execution to proceed, just as he had in two previous cases during his term: Christian Ranucci , executed on July 28, 1976 and Jérôme Carrein , executed on June 23, 1977. Hamida Djandoubi , a Tunisian national, was sentenced to death for killing his former lover, Elisabeth Bousquet. He was execu...

Saudi Arabia executes man convicted on terrorism-related charges

A man convicted on terrorism-related charges has been executed in Saudi Arabia following a final court ruling, according to an official statement from the Interior Ministry and reporting patterns consistent with international news agencies. The Interior Ministry said the individual, identified as Saoud bin Muhammad bin Ali al-Faraj, was convicted of multiple offenses including alleged affiliation with a foreign-linked terrorist organization, targeting security personnel, supporting and financing terrorist activities, harboring suspects, manufacturing explosives, and illegal possession of weapons.The case was initially investigated by security authorities before being referred to the judiciary.

Pentobarbital Sodium Is Used to End Suffering — and Also to Execute People. The Debate Is Getting Louder.

In a prison in Arizona, a tiny vial is kept in a refrigerator. Or there was—the precise state of what’s inside is still up for debate. The contents may have expired, according to a retired judge looking into the state’s execution procedures. They would not expire, according to prison officials. This could not be independently verified by anyone outside the prison. Pentobarbital sodium is the drug in question, and the fact that its storage conditions in a correctional facility are now the focus of legal investigation indicates how far this specific compound has deviated from its intended use.

Faith Leaders, Advocates Plan Protests Against Firms Tied to Idaho Execution Chamber Project

BOISE, Idaho — Faith leaders, community advocates and relatives of a person executed by firing squad are joining national advocacy groups to protest firms involved in constructing Idaho’s execution chamber, as states increasingly turn to alternative methods amid lethal injection drug shortages. Due to the refusal of pharmaceutical companies, especially in the past decade, many states have had to find alternative methods because of extensive shortages of lethal injection drugs. Further, this has led the state of Idaho to pass legislation authorizing execution by firing squad, which is one of the most aggressive among alternative methods.

Sonia Sotomayor Warns That Texas May Execute an Innocent Man

Law is, as legal scholars and commentators have long recognized , both a refuge for those seeking to escape abuses of power and a trap in which their claims of justice get lost in a maze of statutory intricacies. Nowhere has this been more clearly on display than in the world of capital punishment. Over the span of half a century, the Supreme Court has gone from championing the rights of capital defendants and death row inmates to deflecting and denying their pursuit of justice. Where once the court carefully scrutinized procedures used in death cases, insisting that they had to conform to the dictates of so-called super due process , today it has made the due process accorded in those cases not super at all .

Florida Supreme Court halts execution of police officer convicted of raping, murdering girl

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — The execution of a former Florida police officer convicted of raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl was temporarily halted Thursday by the Florida Supreme Court. The court issued a stay in execution for 68-year-old James Aren Duckett, who was scheduled to receive a three-drug injection Tuesday at Florida State Prison near Starke. Duckett was sentenced to death in 1988 after being convicted of first-degree murder and sexual battery.

Arizona | Death Row Inmate Challenges Execution Warrant, Citing 2025 Cyberattack and Protocol Failures

Leroy Dean McGill was sentenced to death for a 2002 gasoline attack in North Phoenix against a couple, Charles Perez and Nova Banta. PHOENIX — Attorneys for Arizona death row inmate Leroy Dean McGill have formally challenged the state’s attempt to secure an execution warrant, citing a catastrophic 2025 cyberattack and a long history of troubled lethal injection protocols. The challenge comes as Arizona seeks to resume capital punishment following a year-long hiatus. If the Arizona Supreme Court grants the state’s request, McGill would become the first person executed in the state since 2024.

Iranian Gay Activist: "They Forced Me to Watch Executions So I Would Know How Mine Would Be"

Iranian LGBT activist now living as a refugee in Spain. He was sentenced to death by the ayatollah regime for being homosexual and for his support campaign for the community. "The enemy was already at home," he says about the current war In 11 countries around the world, homosexuality is punishable by death - it is criminalized in almost 70 countries. One of them is the Islamic Republic of Iran, from where Ramtin Zigorat (Tabriz, 1988) managed to escape after avoiding a death sentence and enduring the worst tortures. He has been living as a refugee in Spain for six and a half years. Question . His life, his testimony, can help us better understand what the Iranian Islamist regime is. I believe that until adolescence, you did not fully understand that you were homosexual.

Once Nevada’s youngest on death row, double murderer paroled as victims’ family claims silence from state

LAS VEGAS — A man who once stood as the youngest person on Nevada’s death row has officially transitioned from a life behind bars to a life under supervision, following his release from High Desert State Prison last month. Edward Michael Domingues, 49, was released on parole on Feb. 13, 2026. His freedom marks the end of 32 consecutive years of incarceration for the 1993 murders of Arjin Chanel Pechpho and her 4-year-old son, Jonathan Smith. Since his release, the case has ignited a renewed debate over Nevada’s victim notification systems. Tawin Eshelman, the mother and grandmother of the victims, confirmed that the family was never formally notified of the parole hearing that led to Domingues' freedom.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog