7 Leaders of Sheikh Hasina’s Party Get Death Sentence Over 2024 Uprising

A Bangladesh court on Tuesday sentenced seven senior aides of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death for crimes against humanity, including murder and inciting and provoking killings during the 2024 monsoon uprising that led to the fall of her government.

A three-member International Crimes Tribunal in Dhaka, headed by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, delivered the verdict. All seven convicts are currently fugitives living in self-exile in India and the United States.

The convicted leaders include Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, former State Minister for Information Mohammad Ali Arafat, Joint General Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Youth Wing Chairman Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash, Youth Wing General Secretary Moinul Hossain Nikhil, Student Wing President Saddam Hussain and General Secretary Sheikh Wali Asif Enan.

The tribunal also ordered the confiscation of half the assets of Quader, Nasim, Arafat and Parash, with the proceeds to be distributed as compensation to families of those killed or injured during the uprising.

According to the United Nations, at least 1,400 people were killed and thousands injured during the crackdown by Hasina’s security forces and Awami League supporters.

Hasina herself was sentenced to death by the same tribunal last November over her alleged role in the crackdown. She fled to India after her government was ousted and remains in self-imposed exile.