Leading international human rights lawyers have condemned Bangladeshโs International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) for sentencing former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death in absentia and handing down a two-year prison term to her niece, British Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, describing the trials as a โserious misuse of state authorityโ that falls far short of international fair-trial standards and risks turning justice into an instrument of political revenge.
In a hard-hitting statement issued today, the International Bar Associationโs Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) warned that the proceedings โappear to fall short of recognised legal standards, signal democratic backsliding and highlight a justice system at risk of being used as an instrument of political contestation.โ
Last month, the ICT-BDโoriginally established in 1973 to prosecute 1971 Liberation War crimesโsentenced Sheikh Hasina and her former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death for alleged crimes against humanity during the brutal 2024 crackdown on student-led protests that eventually toppled her 15-year government. The same tribunal separately convicted Tulip Siddiq, the Hampstead and Highgate MP and former city minister in Sir Keir Starmerโs government, in absentia on corruption charges related to a land-allocation deal during her auntโs tenure. Siddiq has categorically denied any wrongdoing.
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The IBAHRI stressed that while accountability for human rights violations is essential, โall proceedings must uphold international fair trial guaranteesโ and condemned โthe use of the death penalty in all circumstances.โ It highlighted multiple grave procedural flaws in Sheikh Hasinaโs case:
– Lack of formal notification of charges
– Denial of representation by counsel of her own choosing
– Reliance on a state-appointed lawyer with whom she has had no communication
– Widespread reports of harassment and intimidation of defence lawyers
โImposing the death penalty following a trial that did not meet international fair trial standards would effectively amount to summary execution and a clear violation of the right to life,โ the institute warned.
IBAHRI co-chair and prominent London barrister Mark Stephens CBE declared: โReports of harassment and intimidation of defence lawyers in the representation of their clients, as in Tulip Siddiqโs case, strike at the heart of the right to a fair trial and undermine the rule of law in Bangladesh. Such practices represent a serious misuse of state authority. The interim government must ensure that legal professionals can work safely and independently and must ensure a genuine commitment to justice, not political retaliation.โ
The statement comes just 24 hours after Sheikh Hasina herself, speaking from exile in India, branded the ICT a โkangaroo courtโ controlled by โa small group of self-serving and unelected politiciansโ and accused Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus of using the trials as a โsmokescreenโ to suppress the Awami League and distract from his own governance failures.
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The IBAHRI called on the Yunus-led interim government to:
– Immediately halt all executions
– Establish a formal moratorium on the death penalty
– Commit to its full and permanent abolition
– Guarantee the safety and independence of defence lawyers
Since Sheikh Hasinaโs ouster in August 2024, the ICT-BDโwidely criticised during her own tenure for alleged political bias against opposition figuresโhas been repurposed by the new administration to target former Awami League leaders and their families. At least five previous death sentences issued by the tribunal have been carried out, raising fears that Bangladesh could move to enforce the latest verdicts through extradition demands or other means.
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The British government has so far declined to comment officially on Tulip Siddiqโs conviction, but sources within the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office confirmed that diplomatic representations have been made to Dhaka expressing โserious concernโ over due process and the targeting of a sitting British parliamentarian.
With Bangladeshโs general election now scheduled for February 2026 and the Awami League still banned under anti-terrorism laws, todayโs intervention by one of the worldโs most respected legal bodies adds significant international pressure on the interim government, intensifying scrutiny over whether the post-Hasina era is delivering genuine justice or merely victorsโ vengeance.
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