Ex Bangla PM Hasina sentenced to death

Dhaka: Bangladesh's deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina was on Monday sentenced to death in absentia by a special tribunal for "crimes against humanity" over her government's brutal crackdown on student-led protests last year. In its verdict that followed a months-long trial, the country's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) described the 78-year-old Awami League leader as the "mastermind and principal architect" of the violent repression that killed hundreds of protesters.

It also handed the death sentence to former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on similar charges. Hasina has been living in India since she fled Bangladesh on August 5 last year in the face of the massive protests. She was earlier declared a fugitive by the court.

Hours after the verdict, Bangladesh’s Foreign ministry demanded that Hasina and former home minister Kamal be immediately handed over under an extradition treaty in view of their sentencing.

In her reaction, Hasina said the judgement has been made by a “rigged tribunal established and presided over by an unelected government with no democratic mandate.” “They are biased and politically motivated. In their distasteful call for the death penalty, they reveal the brazen and murderous intent of extremist figures within the interim government to remove Bangladesh’s last elected prime minister, and to nullify the Awami League as a political force,” she said in a statement.

Bangla demands extradition of Hasina

Dhaka: Bangladesh's Foreign ministry has sought the handing over of former prime minister and ‘fugitive accused’ Sheikh Hasina from India, after a tribunal's death sentence to the Awami League leader. In a letter, the Bangladesh ministry cited an extradition agreement with India and said it was an “obligatory responsibility” for New Delhi to ensure Hasina's return to Bangladesh.