Ex-Bangladesh slams Sheikh Hasina's death sentence: 'Everything is fake, conspiracy to avenge 1971'

Political leaflets depicting Sheikh Hasina and his father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman are seen on the floor of the vandalised Awami League headquarters days after a student-led uprising that ended the 15-year rule of Awami League's leader Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka on August 10, 2024. (Photo by LUIS TATO / AFP)

Former Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who has been charged alongside ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a crimes against humanity case, has rejected the allegations as politically motivated. Speaking to CNN-News18, Kamal said the trial and verdict were part of a broader conspiracy to rewrite Bangladesh’s history and target the previous Awami League government.

“Everything is fake, it is a conspiracy hatched to take revenge for what happened in 1971,” Kamal said, referring to the events surrounding Bangladesh’s Liberation War.

The International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh (ICT-BD) on Monday sentenced Sheikh Hasina to death for allegedly ordering a violent crackdown on student-led protests last year that led to her government’s downfall. Kamal and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun were also charged in the same case.

Kamal also raised doubts about the nature of the evidence used in the trial, saying that much of it was digital and therefore unreliable.

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

He added that the use of such material left the entire case open to manipulation. “The charges rely on material that could easily be changed. That makes the whole case unreliable,” Kamal argued.

The former minister described the charges as part of a long-planned effort to dismantle the Awami League’s leadership and erase its legacy. “This is all pre-planned,” he said, insisting that the case had little to do with justice and more to do with political retribution.

Rejecting the tribunal’s ruling, Kamal questioned both its legal foundation and its motives. “How can it be a crime against humanity? No law is being followed,” he said.

Kamal alleged that the ongoing legal process was being used as a political weapon against Sheikh Hasina and her close associates. “The proceedings distort legal norms and are being used to destroy the former government,” he added.

The tribunal’s verdict against Sheikh Hasina marks one of the most significant moments in Bangladesh’s recent political history. The court found her guilty of ordering the use of force against student demonstrators during the July 2024 uprising, which resulted in over 1,000 deaths according to UN estimates.

Hasina fled Dhaka in August 2024 as nationwide protests intensified and has been living in New Delhi since then. An interim government led by Muhammad Yunus later took charge and reopened investigations into the crackdown, accusing Hasina of crimes against humanity.

Before the verdict, Hasina had dismissed the allegations, saying they were politically driven. “The accusations are false,” she said in an earlier interview. “I do not care about such verdicts.”

The court had ordered her to appear in person for the trial, but Hasina defied the summons, calling the tribunal’s actions “unjust and unconstitutional.”

For now, both Hasina and Kamal remain in exile, denying all charges and insisting that their convictions were engineered as part of a wider plan to silence their political influence in Bangladesh.