Sheikh Hasina News: Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has appealed to the Bangladesh authorities to legally cancel the death sentence awarded to her last year. He also demanded that the ongoing trial against him be conducted as per international standards and with complete impartiality, so that the transparency and credibility of the judicial process is maintained.
Sheikh Hasina’s supporters are calling this demand a necessary step towards ensuring justice, while this matter has also attracted attention at the international level. The move comes a month after the formation of a new government in Dhaka led by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)’s Tariq Rahman and at a time when some leaders of Hasina’s Awami League have taken refuge in India or Europe. He is now exploring the possibility of activating the party in Bangladesh.
This letter, written on March 30, included 5 demands, one of which was that the verdict and sentence given against Sheikh Hasina should be ‘immediately declared legally invalid and cancelled’ and no steps should be taken to implement the death penalty.
The letter further said that all further proceedings against Hasina should be conducted in full compliance with international fair trial standards, including proper notice, disclosure of all charges and evidence, the opportunity to participate in the defense with a legal representative of her choice and ‘a hearing before an independent and impartial tribunal’.
The International Criminal Tribunal (ICT) is a domestic war crimes court of Bangladesh. On November 17 last year, it had convicted Sheikh Hasina and sentenced her to death, terming the action taken against the student-led protests in 2024 as against humanity. The ICT had also separately sentenced him to life imprisonment after convicting him of facilitating and failing to prevent crimes against civilians by law enforcement agencies and Awami League activists.
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