Bangladesh on edge after Sheikh Hasina’s death sentence: Awami League calls shutdown, protests expected | Top Updates

File photo of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Bangladesh’s Awami League has announced a nationwide shutdown on Tuesday after the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death for crimes against humanity. The party urged its supporters across the country to observe the strike in protest against what it called a “politically motivated verdict.”

The tribunal in Dhaka handed Hasina the death penalty on Monday for ordering a violent crackdown on student-led protests in July 2024 that toppled her government. Two of her close aides, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, were also convicted.

The verdict was delivered amid tight security in the capital. Paramilitary forces and riot police guarded key installations and sealed roads around the tribunal complex. Witnesses described clapping and cheering inside the courtroom after the judgment was read out.

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Hasina, who fled to India in August 2024 after her government’s fall, was tried in absentia. The court gave her a life sentence under charges of crimes against humanity and the death sentence for ordering killings during the uprising. The ruling is one of the most significant and controversial legal decisions in Bangladesh’s history and comes just months before parliamentary elections expected in February 2026.

Her party has been barred from contesting the upcoming polls, raising fears of fresh unrest.

Hasina rejects verdict, calls tribunal ‘rigged’

In her first reaction after the verdict, Sheikh Hasina called the ruling “rigged” and “politically motivated.”

“The verdicts announced against me have been made by a rigged tribunal established and presided over by an unelected government with no democratic mandate. They are biased and politically motivated,” Hasina said in a statement.

“In their distasteful call for the death penalty, they reveal the brazen and murderous intent of extremist figures within the interim government to remove Bangladesh’s last elected prime minister, and to nullify the Awami League as a political force.”

She further defended her record in office, saying the allegations of human rights abuses were baseless.

“I reject the ICT’s other allegations of human rights abuses as equally unevidenced. I am very proud of my government’s record on human rights and development,” she said.

“We led Bangladesh to join the International Criminal Court in 2010, gave refuge to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar, expanded access to electricity and education, and presided over a 450% GDP growth over 15 years, lifting millions out of poverty.”

Hasina also accused interim Prime Minister Muhammad Yunus of leading a “vengeful campaign” against her.

“Dr Yunus and his vengeful cronies can claim no achievements that are remotely comparable,” she said.

Hasina’s aides and family dismiss verdict

Sources close to Hasina told CNN-News18 that they rejected the death sentence as “fake, fabricated and one day justice.”

“No evidence is on record, and we are called for evidence verification,” the sources said. “The judgment is not on legal lines.”

They accused the interim government of pushing Bangladesh into chaos.

“This country is in the hands of radicals who are supported by terror groups,” they told CNN-News18, calling the Yunus-led administration a “puppet regime.”

Hasina’s son and adviser, Sajeeb Wazed, told Reuters that the family would not appeal the verdict unless a democratically elected government took office.

“We will not appeal unless a democratically elected government is in place with the Awami League’s participation,” Wazed said.

Asaduzzaman Kamal also calls it ‘pure drama’

Former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who was convicted alongside Hasina, described the proceedings as political revenge. Speaking to CNN-News18, he said,

“Everything is fake, it is a conspiracy hatched to take revenge for what happened in 1971.”

He claimed that the tribunal lacked transparency and credibility.

“I have learnt that the chief justice didn’t attend the court for the past 15 days and prepared the judgment on his own. It is pure drama,” Kamal said.

He also questioned the evidence used against him and Hasina.

“In the digital arena, Artificial Intelligence can be used to alter anything. There is no physical evidence. How can someone be convicted on the basis of digital evidence?”

Tense calm in Dhaka as security tightened

Security remains tight across Dhaka and other major cities. Armoured vehicles have been stationed near government offices, and checkpoints have been set up around the tribunal area. Authorities said they were prepared for unrest following the Awami League’s shutdown call.

The verdict comes after months of political tension since the 2024 uprising, which killed more than 1,000 people according to UN estimates. Bangladesh is now governed by an interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus, which Hasina and her supporters accuse of running a “witch-hunt” against the former government.

As the opposition braces for protests, the fate of Sheikh Hasina and her return from exile in India remain uncertain. The tribunal’s ruling can still be appealed in the Supreme Court, but her party says it will not participate unless the democratic process is restored.