Bangladesh sentences seven Hasina-era Awami League leaders to death

A Bangladesh tribunal sentenced seven senior leaders of ousted premier Sheikh Hasina's Awami League party to death in absentia on Tuesday. The International Crimes Tribunal in Dhaka convicted the group, including two former ministers, of crimes against humanity for their role in crushing the deadly 2024 uprising.

Why were the seven Awami League leaders sentenced to death?

The tribunal found the seven guilty of crimes against humanity, including murder, and of instigating and provoking killings during the government's crackdown on student-led protests. The United Nations says as many as 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 as Hasina's administration tried to suppress the uprising.

A three-member panel headed by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury delivered Tuesday's verdict. Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam said the prosecution welcomed the ruling. The court also ordered that half the assets of five of the men be distributed as compensation to the families of those killed or injured.

Who are the seven Awami League leaders sentenced to death?

The convicted group includes Obaidul Quader, the party's former general secretary, and fellow ex-minister Mohammad Ali Arafat. The other five are AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash, Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil, Saddam Hussain and Sheikh Wali Asif Enan.

State-appointed defence lawyer M Hasan Imam argued the men were not directly involved in the killings and that the tribunal could have handed down a lesser sentence. He said the seven were convicted largely because of the actions of their fellow activists and supporters.

What led to the 2024 uprising against Sheikh Hasina?

Hasina's 15-year rule ended in August 2024, when she fled her palace by helicopter to neighboring India as the student-led uprising intensified. She remains in hiding in India and has refused to accept the tribunal's authority. A Bangladesh court sentenced her to death in absentia in November 2025.

What happens next in Bangladesh's war crimes trials?

Tuesday's sentencing brings the total number convicted in trials connected to the 2024 protests to 68. Of those, 22 have been sentenced to death, though only four are currently in custody.

The government of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, which won a landslide victory in February in the first elections since Hasina's ouster, has requested her extradition. Hasina, 78, has said she will return to Bangladesh of her own volition in December, despite the death sentence she faces.