 "Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina. File Image- FP Creative")
As Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) sentences the country’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death, sources close to her believe that the deposed premier will “fight the verdict”. Sources close to Hasina told CNN-News18 that the verdict is “not on legal lines”.
The source slammed the court, calling the charges “fake and fabricated”. “No evidence is on record, and we are calling for evidence verification,” the source told CNN-News18. The source maintained that the “country is pushed towards complete radicalisation”.
“Yunus is a puppet and working accordingly,” the source said while commenting on Bangladesh’s Interim Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus. “ Hasina will fight the verdict and will go back”, the source furthered.
Hasina sentenced to death
In a historic verdict on Monday, former Prime Minister Hasina was sentenced to death by the ICT after he was found guilty of committing crimes against humanity . Hasina was convicted on three out of five charges: Incitement of violence, issuing an order to kill and inaction over the July protests, which took a violent turn.
Other than Hasina, former Home Minister of Bangladesh Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal was also sentenced to death. Meanwhile, former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who later became an approver, was awarded leniency and received a five-year prison sentence.
All the convicts will now have 30 days to appeal the verdict to the Bangladesh Supreme Court. However, they will have to come back to Bangladesh and surrender themselves to the authorities to make that appeal. After the appeal is made, the Supreme Court will have 60 days to uphold or overturn the ICT’s ruling.
Awami rejects the verdict
In a formal statement, Hasina’s Awami League formally rejected the tribunal verdict and called for a “nation-wide shutdown”. The statement was delivered by Jahangir Kabir Nanak, former Minister of Textiles and Jute and the Praesidium Member of the Awami League.
Nanak described the ICT as a “Kangaroo Court”, calling the trial and verdict “farce”. He maintained that the party will continue to fight until the Yunus regime is ousted.
BNP celebrates the move
In their first reaction to the verdict, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) “welcomed the Judgement by the Crimes Tribunal”. While speaking to CNN-News18, a BNP member, Shama Obaed, said, “Facts and evidence in the case were already there.”
She went on to claim that the United Nations did a “thorough fact-finding report.” “Everyone knows where orders came from. Two months of bloodshed happened. Bangladesh needs closure. Closure will only happen when victims’ families are at peace,” she said, accusing the former PM of running the racket.