Seven members of Sheikh Hasina’s ousted Awami League have been sentenced to death in absentia in Bangladesh over their alleged roles in the crackdown on the country’s 2024 uprising.
A three-member tribunal in Dhaka, headed by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, convicted the men of crimes against humanity, including murder and instigating or provoking killings.
Those sentenced include Mohammad Ali Arafat, a former state minister for information and broadcasting, and Obaidul Quader, the Awami League’s general-secretary. Both were charged with murder as well as instigating killings.
The other five are AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash, Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil, Saddam Hussain and Sheikh Wali Asif Enan.
State-appointed defence lawyer M Hasan Imam said the men had not been directly involved in the killings and argued that the tribunal could have imposed a lesser sentence.
“They were not directly involved in the killings; they have been convicted due to their fellow activists and supporters,” he said.
Bangladesh crackdown cases
The tribunal also ordered the confiscation of half the assets belonging to the five men, saying the money would be distributed as compensation to families of people killed or injured during the crackdown.
Sixty-eight people have been convicted in cases linked to the crackdown, with 22 receiving death sentences. Only four of those convicted are currently in custody.
Up to 1,400 people were killed and thousands injured during the uprising by Hasina’s security forces and her supporters, according to the United Nations.
Hasina, 78, was sentenced to death by hanging last November for crimes against humanity over her role in the crackdown. She fled Bangladesh after the uprising and has been living in exile in India, but has said she will return to the country by December.
