Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD) has found deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina guilty of crimes against humanity in connection with last year’s student-led uprising that toppled her Awami League government. Hasina, currently in exile, was tried in absentia.

The three-member tribunal is also set to deliver judgments against two of her former top officials — ex-home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun — who faced the same allegations. Mamun was present in court when the verdict was announced.

Prosecutors have requested the death penalty for all three accused.

Meanwhile, the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government has tightened security across Dhaka and several other cities amid sporadic violence and crude bomb attacks ahead of the tribunal’s highly anticipated ruling. The country remains tense as political unrest continues to escalate months after the end of Hasina’s 15-year hold on power.

Bangladesh has been gripped by instability since the mass student movement that forced Hasina from office. Campaigning ahead of the February 2026 elections has been marred by violence, with the United Nations reporting that up to 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns during the final weeks of her rule — deaths that became central to the charges against her.

Prosecutors brought five counts against Hasina, including failure to prevent murder — an offence considered a crime against humanity under Bangladeshi law. The tribunal heard months of testimony alleging that she personally ordered mass killings during the crackdown.

Hasina has dismissed the proceedings from exile, calling the trial a “jurisprudential joke.”