A three-member tribunal in Dhaka sentenced seven aides of ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death in absentia on Tuesday over crimes against humanity linked to efforts to crush the country’s 2024 uprising. The convictions included murder and charges of instigating or provoking killings.
Who was convicted
The defendants are members of Hasina’s Awami League. They include former state minister for information and broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat and party General-Secretary Obaidul Quader, who faced murder and incitement-related charges.
The other five convicted men are AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash, Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil, Saddam Hussain and Sheikh Wali Asif Enan. The tribunal was headed by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury.
Casualties and asset orders
The United Nations has said up to 1,400 people were killed and thousands injured during the uprising, which it attributed to Hasina’s security forces and supporters. The tribunal ordered half the assets belonging to the five men other than Arafat and Quader to be confiscated and distributed as compensation to families of people killed or injured in the crackdown.
State-appointed defence lawyer M Hasan Imam said the seven men were not directly involved in killings and argued that the court could have imposed a lesser sentence. He said they were convicted because of the actions of fellow activists and supporters.
The wider legal cases
Sixty-eight people have been convicted in cases related to the crackdown, including 22 who have received death sentences. Four of those convicted are currently in custody.
Hasina, 78, was sentenced to death by hanging last November for crimes against humanity over her role in the crackdown. She fled Bangladesh after the uprising and has been living in exile in India; she has said she will return to Bangladesh in December. Read the context: What Sheikh Hasina may say in her August 5 address from India.
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