“PAYS THE DUES”
Hasina, who was assigned a state-appointed lawyer for the trial, called the verdict “biased and politically motivated” in a statement issued from hiding in India.
“Its guilty verdict against me was a foregone conclusion,” Hasina said.
She can appeal against her sentence – if she is arrested or surrenders, her defence lawyer Mohammad Amir Hossain said.
Shamsi Ara Zaman, whose photojournalist son Tahir Zaman Priyo was killed during last year’s protests, said she was “satisfied” with the death sentences but “dismayed” that the ex-police chief was given only five years in jail.
Bangladesh has been in political turmoil since the end of Hasina’s autocratic rule, and violence has marred campaigning for elections expected in February 2026.
The United Nations says up to 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns as Hasina tried to cling to power, deaths that were central to her trial.
Attorney General Mohammad Asaduzzaman said the trial “pays the dues to the martyrs”, while interim leader Muhammad Yunus called it a “historic verdict”.
The trial heard months of testimony detailing how Hasina had ordered mass killings.
Hasina was backed by New Delhi, fraying relations between the two neighbours since her overthrow, and Bangladesh reiterated its call for India to extradite her.
India’s foreign ministry said that it had “noted” the verdict, adding it was “committed to the best interests of the people of Bangladesh”.
It did not comment immediately on Bangladesh’s extradition request.
Read the full article here
