In a dramatic escalation of Bangladesh’s political crisis, a special International Crimes Tribunal has formally indicted ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on multiple counts of crimes against humanity. The charges of crime against humanity, filed in absentia on Thursday, allege that Hasina orchestrated a violent and systematic crackdown on student-led protests in July–August 2024, resulting in staggering civilian casualties.
The tribunal’s indictment of crime against humanity names five specific crimes—abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy and failure to prevent mass murder—based on overwhelming evidence suggesting government forces deliberately used lethal force to suppress dissent. Prosecutors maintain that Hasina, who led Bangladesh for 15 years before fleeing the country on August 5, 2024, acted as the “mastermind, conductor and superior commander” behind the violence. These allegations are supported by leaked audio recordings, internal communications, video documentation of security deployments, and encrypted phone intercepts collected since May 2025.
Among the co-accused are Hasina’s former interior minister, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and ex-Inspector General of Police, Chowdhury Abdullah Al‑Mamun. Significantly, Al‑Mamun has pleaded guilty and agreed to testify as a prosecution witness, lending further credibility to the charges. Prosecutors allege that up to 1,400 people died during the crackdown—a figure corroborated by both United Nations investigations and the tribunal’s findings.
Sheikh Hasina, now based in exile in India, has ignored Bangladesh’s extradition requests and denied all allegations of crime against humanity, dismissing the tribunal as politically motivated. Her Awami League party has branded the charges a “kangaroo court” and claimed the proceedings constitute a politically charged witch-hunt orchestrated by the interim government led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus. The interim government has responded by barring the Awami League from participating in upcoming elections slated for April 2026, and has pressed India to cooperate with extradition efforts. Dhaka has publicly criticized Delhi’s silence as “no longer tenable”, but so far New Delhi has not acted.
The former prime minister’s troubles began mounting earlier this month, when she was sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court over a leaked audio tape in which she allegedly joked about having a “license to kill 227 people”. Though a relatively minor sentence, it marked the first successful conviction against her since fleeing Bangladesh.
Prosecutors expect the formal trial to begin on August 3, 2025, followed by the recording of witness testimonies the next day. The tribunal, initially created by Hasina in 2009 to address atrocities committed during the 1971 war of independence, now stands at the center of the country’s contentious political landscape, tasked with reckoning with her legacy.
Analysts view the charges as a watershed moment in Bangladeshi politics—a reckoning for former abuses or a politically charged spectacle, depending on one’s standpoint. Human rights organizations and international observers underscore the scale and nature of the violence, confirming that the July–August unrest encompassed mass detentions, torture, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, media censorship, and repeated lethal force by security personnel. The UN-backed report also noted that three‑quarters of protest-related deaths were caused by firearms typically reserved for wartime engagements.
The ex‑Inspector General’s cooperation may be a pivotal moment. His plea and willingness to testify could strengthen the prosecution’s case, bolstering narrative of a coordinated state-led operation rather than isolated or rogue incidents. Meanwhile, the interim government continues efforts to stabilize state institutions—a sweep that also includes ongoing operations to detain thousands of Hasina loyalists, such as “Operation Devil Hunt,” which has already seen over 11,000 arrests.
As Bangladesh barrels toward its first elections since Hasina’s fall, political tension underscores the charges’ gravity. With tensions rife between Dhaka and New Delhi, questions remain: Will India extradite Hasina? Will the trial proceed fairly? And will Bangladesh emerge with renewed democratic legitimacy or be mired in deepening political fault lines?
