Bangladesh's ex-PM Sheikh Hasina faces death penalty over protest killings
Prosecutors in Bangladesh are seeking the death penalty for former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in connection with the deaths of 1,400 people during a student protest last year that led to her removal from office.
A leaked audio clip allegedly recorded Hasina ordering police to "use lethal weapons" against student protesters. She faces charges for crimes against humanity and fled to India in August 2024, News.Az reports citing foreign media.
"Sheikh Hasina is the mastermind of all the crimes. She is a heartless criminal," said Muhammad Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor of the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal, the Times of India reported. "She deserves the maximum punishment. For the murder of 1,400 people, she ought to have been hanged 1,400 times."
The protests erupted in July 2024 against civil service job quotas for those who fought in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War against East Pakistan. The students wanted the jobs to be based on merit. But the protests turned into a call to overthrow Hasina.
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