Bangladesh’s tribunal sentences seven more Awami League leaders to death

Dhaka: Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-2 on Tuesday sentenced seven Awami League leaders, including party General Secretary Obaidul Quader, to death for “crimes against humanity” linked to Bangladesh’s July 2024 mass uprising, local media reported.

The other leaders sentenced to death are Bangladesh’s former state minister for information and broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat; Awami League Joint General Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim; Chhatra League President Saddam Hussain; Chhatra League General Secretary Sheikh Wali Asif Inan; Jubo League President Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash; and Jubo League General Secretary Mainul Hossain Khan Nikhil, leading Bangladeshi daily Dhaka Tribune reported.

The Chhatra League is the student wing, and the Jubo League is the youth wing of the Awami League. The three-member tribunal led by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury announced the verdict on Tuesday. All seven leaders are fugitives, as per the report.

The prosecution alleged that law enforcement agencies and armed cadres of the Awami League and its related organisations committed systematic attacks, killings and torture against students and civilians during the uprising. They claimed that the accused had control and command over these activities and were involved in ordering, inciting, abetting or assisting the alleged crimes or were aware of them, Dhaka Tribune reported.

The prosecution alleged that these seven leaders committed crimes against humanity under the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973, including murder, attempted murder, torture, other inhumane acts, abetment, incitement, conspiracy and involvement in the commission of crimes.

In July, leading US-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Bangladesh authorities of failing to uphold international legal standards at the country’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), warning that such failures risk denying justice to victims, undermining the rule of law and resulting in unjust imprisonment of political opponents.

The statement came after the ICT prosecution filed formal charges against former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 40 others in a crimes against humanity case linked to the 2013 crackdown on the Hefazat-e-Islam rally at Shapla Chattar in Dhaka.

“Those responsible for the many abuses committed under the Sheikh Hasina government should be appropriately held to account, but many prosecutions are falling short of international fair trial standards. Bangladesh needs to urgently reform its criminal justice system, and the new government should ensure that there is no room for political vendettas through shoddy investigations and arbitrary allegations,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, Deputy Asia Director at HRW.

The tribunal was established by the former Hasina-led Awami League government in March 2010 to prosecute individuals accused of committing crimes under international law, such as crimes against humanity, in support of the Pakistan military during Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence.

After the Awami League government was toppled by protesters in 2024, an interim government led by Muhammad Yunus amended the law governing the tribunal, altering the definition of offences. However, these amendments fell short of ensuring due process and procedural standards equivalent to international courts dealing with similar offences, the HRW mentioned.

The current Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) administration led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, which assumed office in February 2026, has not introduced any changes to those amendments.

The rights body noted that the law governing the tribunal allowed prosecutors to seek the arrest of individuals without meeting any evidential threshold, to detain individuals for months without providing written reasons, while denying the detainees the right of interlocutory appeal to a separate court.

“Trials can begin three weeks after the prosecution discloses its evidence, leaving little time for adequate defence preparation. Trials in absentia are held without appropriate safeguards, including defendants’ right to choose lawyers to represent them. And the tribunal restricts defence lawyers’ ability to cross-examine witnesses,” it added.

IANS