Dhaka: Seven leaders of the banned Awami League were sentenced to death by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Tuesday.
The leaders have been sentenced for crimes against humanity over their alleged roles in directing, inciting or facilitating violence during the 2024 student-led protests, dubbed the July Uprising, as reported by PTI.
The Justice Mohammad Nazrul Islam Chowdhury-headed three-member tribunal (ICT-2) delivered the verdict against the seven, who were tried in absentia.
They include Awami League general secretary and former road transport minister Obaidul Quader, joint general secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim and former state minister for information and broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat.
The others are Jubo League chairman Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash, its general secretary Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil, Bangladesh Chhatra League president Saddam Hussain and its general secretary Sheikh Wali Asif Enan.
State-appointed defence lawyers represented all seven as the tribunal delivered the verdict in cases stemming from the 2024 protests, around 10 months after former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia.
The tribunal framed seven charges against the accused on January 22, while the trial began on February 17. The ICT-2 tried the seven over their alleged roles in directing or inciting violence during the protests, which eventually toppled Hasina’s government on August 5, 2024.
The seven were accused of attempting to suppress the protesters by issuing instructions, making provocative and inciting statements and holding meetings where plans for violence were discussed. Prosecutors also alleged that the accused were involved in armed attacks, severe repression and attempts to control the media in different places, contributing to killings, attempted killings and widespread violence across the country.
Hasina fled Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, and has been living in India since.
The tribunal, in November 2025, had sentenced Hasina and her former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death in absentia for crimes against humanity over the crackdown on the student-led protests.
The tribunal had found Hasina guilty under the doctrine of superior command responsibility and held that she had allowed lethal force to be used against protesters.
The UN human rights office has estimated that as many as 1,400 people were killed in violence linked to the protests between July 15 and August 5, 2024.
Hasina death sentence drew international criticism, with legal experts and rights groups raising concerns over fair-trial and procedural issues. Amnesty International criticised the verdict and said the trial and sentence did not deliver justice, while Human Rights raised fair-trial concerns, including over Hasina’s lack of representation by counsel of her own choosing.
The ICT was established under the Hasina government in 2010 to prosecute crimes against humanity committed during Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War.
The interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, which took charge after the fall of the Hasina government, subsequently amended the tribunal’s governing law, including provisions giving it powers over political parties and affiliated organisations.
Hasina has herself dismissed all charges against herself and her cabinet colleagues. At the same time, she declared last month that she is determined to return home in December to put the country on the “right track” as she is undeterred by the threat of imprisonment or a death sentence.
