A special tribunal in Bangladesh opened proceedings Sunday against the country’s deposed prime minister, who is facing charges of crimes against humanity tied to a mass uprising in 2024 that left hundreds of students dead.
Sheikh Hasina was formally charged alongside former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun. Hasina has been in exile in India since Aug. 5, 2024. Khan is missing and believed to be in India, while Mamun has been arrested, according to authorities.
The Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal directed investigators to produce the three accused in court on June 16. The proceedings were broadcast live on state-run Bangladesh Television.
The charges stem from a student-led protest movement that began in July 2024. Tribunal investigators allege that Hasina ordered security forces and members of her Awami League party to violently suppress the protests, resulting in mass casualties and human rights abuses.
According to a report submitted May 12, investigators accused the three of orchestrating five incidents involving murder, torture, and other inhuman acts. The tribunal described Hasina as the “mastermind, conductor, and superior commander” of the alleged atrocities.
The formal charges include an allegation that Hasina incited crimes against humanity at a press conference on July 14, 2024. Prosecutors also claim she ordered the use of helicopters, drones, and lethal weapons against demonstrators, and that party militants coordinated with police to carry out deadly attacks in multiple locations, including Begum Rokeya University, Chankharpul and near Ashulia Police Station.
A U.N. human rights office report in February estimated that up to 1,400 people may have died during a three-week crackdown on the protests.
Hasina and the Awami League had earlier criticized the tribunal, claiming its prosecutors had ties to the Jamaat-e-Islami party, a longtime political rival. The tribunal itself was established by Hasina in 2009 to try alleged war crimes dating back to the country’s 1971 war of independence.
Following Hasina’s ouster, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus was appointed interim leader. His administration has since banned the Awami League and amended laws to allow for trials of political parties for alleged roles in crimes against humanity.
In a separate development, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Sunday overturned a lower court decision, clearing the way for Jamaat-e-Islami to regain registration as a political party after more than a decade. The decision enables the group to participate in upcoming elections, pending final approval by the Election Commission.
Yunus has said elections will be held by June 2026, though the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, has pushed for an earlier vote in December.
Hasina and the others charged have not entered pleas. Bangladesh’s government has submitted a formal extradition request to India for her return.