Bangladesh Ex-PM Hasina’s Party Announces Nationwide Protests Until Nov 30

Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League on Tuesday announced nationwide agitations and “resistance marches” until November 30, in protest against the death sentence handed to Hasina by what the party has termed an “illegal” tribunal.

The development follows the November 17 verdict by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD), which sentenced the 78-year-old former prime minister to death alongside former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on charges of crimes against humanity. The trial was conducted in absentia. Hasina is currently in India, while Kamal is also believed to be in hiding there.

In a statement posted on its official social media accounts, the Awami League alleged that the tribunal’s ruling was part of a political “conspiracy” orchestrated by the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government to keep Hasina and the party out of the national elections scheduled for February next year.

Rejecting what it called the “illegal verdict of an illegal ICT tribunal” and demanding the resignation of Muhammad Yunus, the party announced protests, demonstrations and ‘resistance marches’ across all districts and upazilas until November 30.

The party said the “farcical” judgment had been dismissed with contempt by the public, describing the tribunal proceedings as nothing more than a mockery of a trial.

The Awami League said it was engaging with grassroots workers, political leaders and stakeholders to counter what it described as anti-state conspiracies, vowing to lead nationwide resistance against any attempt to exclude pro-liberation forces from the electoral process.

The party warned that a “staged election” would not be allowed in Bangladesh and would be “resisted at any cost,” adding that a tougher nationwide movement would be announced soon.

Hasina’s Awami League government was toppled on August 5 last year following a student-led violent uprising widely referred to as the “July Uprising.”

Three days later, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus returned from Paris at the invitation of protesting students to assume charge of the interim government as its chief adviser.

Hasina and two others were later accused of using brutal force to suppress the demonstrations. A UN human rights office report stated that nearly 1,400 people were killed between July 15 and August 15 last year.

Also Read: Sheikh Hasina Lives in India Without Passport: What Allows Her Stay