The International Crisis Group (ICG) warned on Tuesday that the death sentence for exiled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina risks deepening Bangladesh’s political rifts.
The Belgium-based think tank’s statement came a day after the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD) convicted the Awami League President in absentia for crimes against humanity tied to the 2024 uprising.
The verdict has triggered an Awami League shutdown and drawn fire from Amnesty International over trial flaws. Elections loom in February 2026.
ICG senior consultant Thomas Kian called the ruling a crowd-pleaser. “The verdict convicting former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of crimes against humanity will be widely welcomed in Bangladesh,” he said. “Because there is little room for doubt about her responsibility for the atrocities committed against protesters in July-August 2024.”
ICG has flagged some issues. Trials in absentia draw heat worldwide. This one raced ahead. Defendants got scant access. “These criticisms highlight long-standing challenges to Bangladesh’s criminal justice system,” the statement said.
Amnesty condemns revenge trial death sentence for Sheikh Hasina as unfair
1,001 university teachers condemn Sheikh Hasina’s death sentence
100 doctors decry orchestrated vengeance in Sheikh Hasina’s sentence
The interim government, in power since August 2024, has done little to fix them. ICG added: Such flaws do not erase Hasina’s role. Or that of Awami League leaders. Or some police units.
Amnesty Slams ‘Unfair’ Process
Amnesty International piled on Tuesday. It called the trial “neither fair nor just.” Secretary General Agnès Callamard hit the tribunal’s weak independence. Amnesty has criticised it since 2013. The absentia speed shocked. Hasina’s court lawyer had too little prep time. Cross-exams of shaky evidence? Blocked.
“Justice for survivors and victims demands that fiercely independent and impartial proceedings, which meet international human rights standards, are conducted,” Callamard said. She blasted the death penalty as “the ultimate cruel, degrading, and inhuman punishment.” It piles on abuses, she said. Not fixes them.
Callamard wants the verdict tossed. Retry it clean. No bias taint. The rush breaks fair trial rules in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
‘Rigged’ Ruling
The Awami League chief hit back from exile. She deemed the tribunal “rigged.” Run by an unelected Yunus government. No democratic nod. “The verdicts announced against me have been made by a rigged tribunal established and presided over by an unelected government with no democratic mandate,” she said Monday in a five-page reply.
“They are biased and politically motivated, orchestrated by a court widely criticised as illegitimate and run under the influence of the war criminal Jamaat-e-Islami party, which has long disregarded Bangladesh’s laws and international standards.”
She skipped summonses. But offered to face a real court. From afar. “I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly,” Hasina said. She dared Yunus to go to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. “They won’t,” she claimed. It would expose the tribunal’s mess. And their own rights lapse.
Political Fallout Looms Large
The sentence guts Hasina’s comeback odds, ICG said. She clings to the Awami League reins. Bangladesh’s oldest party. That blocks its revival. Polls get trickier for the interim setup.
Awami League fired up on Monday, announcing a full shutdown for Tuesday, followed by three-day protests. Bombings have hit party sites lately, and the ICG noted the risks. Awami League should skip violence, it said. The interim government must avoid excess force on supporters.
Bengali 
English