Dhaka: Former Bangladesh prime minister Sk Hasina was charged with ‘crimes against humanity’ in her own country on Sunday for her alleged role in the violent crackdowns during the 2024 student-led uprising. Hasina was forced to resign and flee Bangladesh in August 2024, even as mobs, comprising students and Islamists, marched towards her official residence in Dhaka.
Observers claim that the charges are politically motivated. Hasina’s party, the Awami League, has already been banned and deregistered in Bangladesh.
According to an investigation report that was flashed by authorities in Dhaka on Sunday, Hasina “directly ordered” state security forces, members of her political party, and affiliated groups to carry out operations that resulted in mass casualties.
“These killings were planned,” Mohammad Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor at Bangladesh’s domestic International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), said during a televised hearing during the day, citing video evidence and encrypted communications between various agencies.
“Upon scrutinising the evidence, we reached the conclusion that it was a coordinated, widespread and systematic attack. The accused unleashed all law enforcement agencies and her armed party members to crush the uprising,” the chief prosecutor was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.
Student-led protests began in early 2024 against an old government job quota system that favoured the Mukti Joddhas (freedom fighters) and their families. While a court order upheld this quota, Hasina struck it down. Yet, she was accused of nepotism, corruption, authoritarianism, human rights abuses, and the conduct of unfair elections during her nearly 15-year rule.
It is estimated that nearly 1,400 Bangladeshis were killed in the crackdown ordered by the government against students and Islamists who practically held the country hostage in the early months of 2024.
In October 2024, the ICT had issued an arrest warrant against Hasina. The Bangladesh government also sought her extradition from India.
