Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister of Bangladesh (AFP)

A Bangladesh tribunal has sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death for "crimes against humanity" over her government`s violent crackdown on student-led protests in 2024.

In a televised verdict on Monday, the special tribunal also handed a death sentence to former Interior Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and a five-year jail term to former Police Inspector General Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun.

The 78-year-old Hasina was on trial for being the "mastermind and principal architect" behind the suppression of mass demonstrations, in which some 1,400 people were killed.

Hasina was tried in absentia, as she has been living in self-imposed exile in New Delhi since fleeing her country in August 2024.

Prosecuting Hasina was a key promise made by the interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

Speaking from exile in India, Hasina dismissed the judgment as "politically motivated."

Hasina`s opponents gathered outside her father`s home-turned-museum to demolish the rest of the establishment, which was looted and damaged in 2024.

The verdict will put India under pressure to extradite Hasina, who was the longest-serving prime minister of Bangladesh.

India`s Foreign Ministry has issued a statement addressing the guilty verdict against Hasina.

The statement said India has "noted the verdict" and "remains committed to the best interests of the people of Bangladesh."

"We will always engage constructively with all stakeholders to that end."

The statement did not respond to Bangladesh`s call for India to extradite Hasina and the former interior minister.

embed

Relations between India and Bangladesh are already strained, and the Hasina case could further damage them diplomatically.

Since the ouster of the Hasina government, the Awami League has been largely invisible from politics on the ground.