Former Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, has been handed a death sentence after being found guilty of crimes against humanity.
The International Crimes Tribunal on Monday ruled that Ms Hasina was the “mastermind and principal architect” of a violent crackdown on protesters that resulted in the deaths of about 1,400 people.
Hasina, 78, who fled to India, was tried and convicted in absentia.
Her former home minister, Asaduzzaman Khan, also received a death sentence for his involvement in the deadly suppression of demonstrations.
In the same judgement, former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the operation.
The court said his comparatively lighter sentence reflected the assistance he provided, including offering “material evidence to the tribunal to arrive at the correct decision.”
Hasina governed Bangladesh for two decades before being removed from power last year during a bloody, youth-driven uprising.
According to the United Nations, approximately 1,400 people were killed by security forces during the protests.
“The repression of mass protests in Bangladesh last year that toppled longtime prime minister Sheikh Hasina left as many as 1,400 people dead in just 46 days – the vast majority shot by security forces,” UN human rights chief Volker Türk said.
