7 Sheikh Hasina Allies Get Death Sentence In Bangladesh Over August 5 Protest Crackdown

Seven close allies of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have been sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal-2 (ICT-2) over violence during the 2024 protests. The tribunal convicted the Awami League leaders of crimes against humanity on Tuesday, finding that they allegedly helped plan and encourage a crackdown on demonstrators.

The verdict adds to a series of cases against senior figures from Hasina's government over the deadly unrest. Hasina herself was sentenced to death in absentia last year over her role in the crackdown. Those sentenced to death 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 other four are Jubo League chairman Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash, its general secretary Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil, Bangladesh Chhatra League president Saddam Hossain and its general secretary Sheikh Wali Asif Enan. The three-member ICT-2 bench, headed by Justice Mohammad Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, delivered the verdict.

The seven leaders were accused of holding meetings, making provocative and inflammatory statements, planning violence and attempting to suppress the protests. Prosecutors also alleged that they were involved in armed attacks in different locations, severe repression and attempts to control the media.

These actions, the tribunal found, contributed to killings, attempted killings and widespread violence during the unrest. The protests, led largely by students, began over demands for changes to Bangladesh's public-sector job quota system before escalating into a broader movement against Hasina's government.

Hasina fled Bangladesh on August 5, 2024 and has since remained in India. She has said she intends to return by December. In November 2025, the tribunal sentenced Hasina and her former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death in absentia for crimes against humanity linked to the crackdown on the student-led protests.

The tribunal found Hasina guilty under the principle of superior command responsibility, concluding that she had authorised the use of lethal force against protesters. The UN human rights office has estimated that around 1,400 people were killed in violence linked to the protests between July 5 and August 5, 2024.

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