Putri Anggraini
A specialized judicial tribunal in Dhaka has sentenced seven senior political aides and close allies of Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death in absentia. The ruling follows convictions on serious charges connected to the violent state-led attempts to suppress the mass nationwide uprising that ultimately toppled Hasina's government in 2024.
The verdicts were delivered on Tuesday by a three-member panel of judges presided over by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury. The court concluded that the seven high-profile figures, all influential members of Hasina’s Awami League party, bore direct and command responsibility for crimes against humanity, acts of murder, and actively instigating lethal violence against civilians during the historic anti-government demonstrations.
Among the prominent political figures condemned to capital punishment are Mohammad Ali Arafat, who previously served as the state minister for information and broadcasting, and Obaidul Quader, the long-standing general secretary of the Awami League. Both men were found guilty of murder alongside charges of systematically provoking and orchestrating deadly crackdowns against civilian protesters.
The five other party figures sentenced to the gallows are AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash, Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil, Saddam Hussain, and Sheikh Wali Asif Enan. Like their fellow party leaders, all five men were tried without being present in the courtroom, having avoided capture following the collapse of the previous administration.
In addition to capital punishment, the special tribunal issued an order mandating the confiscation of half of the personal assets belonging to five of the convicted men. According to the court's decree, these seized financial assets and properties will be designated for distribution as monetary compensation to the families of victims who lost their lives or sustained life-altering injuries during the violent suppression.
The severe sentences drew criticism from the legal team appointed by the state to represent the absent defendants. Defense counsel M Hasan Imam argued that capital punishment was an excessively severe penalty under the circumstances, maintaining that his clients had not directly participated in the physical acts of killing on the streets.
Speaking following the court's decision, Imam stressed that the judicial panel should have considered a lesser sentence than the death penalty. He argued that the seven individuals were effectively being held criminally liable and punished for the unlawful conduct and violent actions executed by broader party loyalists, activists, and supporters rather than personal physical involvement.
Tuesday's judgments represent the latest phase in an extensive legal reckoning unfolding across Bangladesh following the end of Hasina’s fifteen-year tenure. To date, the special judicial process has resulted in the conviction of 68 individuals in cases stemming from the deadly suppression of the 2024 unrest.
Among those 68 convicted individuals, courts have handed down a total of 22 death sentences. However, enforcing these severe judicial rulings remains a major logistical and legal hurdle for authorities in Dhaka, as only four of the convicted individuals are currently held in state custody, with the vast majority remaining fugitives abroad or in hiding.
The ongoing judicial proceedings follow the momentous verdict issued last November against Sheikh Hasina herself. The 78-year-old former prime minister was sentenced to death by hanging after the tribunal found her guilty of crimes against humanity for directing the state apparatus in its brutal effort to crush the popular revolt that ended her rule.
Since her sudden removal from office and flight from Bangladesh, Hasina has been residing in exile in neighboring India. Despite facing a death sentence and numerous criminal indictments at home, the former prime minister has publicly declared her intention to return to Bangladesh before the close of the year, targeting December for her return.
The legal proceedings have sought to address what international observers have documented as one of the deadliest chapters of political violence in Bangladesh's recent history. According to official estimates compiled by the United Nations, up to 1,400 people were killed and thousands more suffered severe injuries as Hasina’s state security apparatus and armed party supporters clashed with demonstrators.
The tribunal's continued issuance of capital verdicts underscores the interim authorities' commitment to establishing legal accountability for the senior leadership of the former regime. Nevertheless, the absence of the primary defendants in custody continues to cast a long shadow over the immediate enforcement of these historic legal judgments.
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