Sheikh Hasina to be hanged for crimes against humanity over July Uprising

The International Crimes Tribunal has sentenced ousted Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina to death for crimes against humanity for her attempts to suppress the July Uprising.

Hasina, who ruled the country for a decade and a half with an iron fist, has fled to India since she was ousted from power by a student-led uprising 15 months ago. She is the first former head of the Bangladesh government to be given the death penalty.

The capital punishment was handed down to Hasina by the International Crimes Tribunal, the court that her government formed to try the war crimes of 1971, reports bdnews24.com.

Death sentences had been carried out for five top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami and a member of the BNP by the tribunal during the Awami League’s rule.

A three-member International Crimes Tribunal-1 bench headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder delivered the verdict on Monday. The two other members of the tribunal are Justice Md Shofiul Alam Mahmood and retired district and sessions judge Md Mohitul Haque Enam Chowdhury.

In addition to Hasina, the court also sentenced her government's home minister, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, to death. Like his party chief, he is also believed to be in exile in India.