India’s reaction over ICT verdict against Sheikh Hasina

Indian authorities have expressed their immediate reaction to the death sentence verdict ordered for ousted Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina by the tribunal for “crimes against humanity”.

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said, “India has noted the verdict announced by the ‘International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh’ concerning ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. As a close neighbour, India remains committed to the best interests of the people of Bangladesh, including in peace, democracy, inclusion and stability in that country.”

“We will always engage constructively with all stakeholders to that end,” the statement further said.

The statement also comes after Bangladesh's foreign ministry requested India to extradite “fugitive accused” Sheikh Hasina, saying that it was an “obligatory responsibility” for New Delhi to ensure the former PM's return to Bangladesh.

Earlier in the day,International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has awarded death penalty to ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina for committing crimes against humanity during the July Uprising.

A three-member panel of ICT-1, led by Justice Golam Mortuza Majumder pronounced the verdict.

The ICT began reading out the verdict in the much-anticipated case over crimes against humanity against ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India in the face of a mass uprising in July–August 2024 around 12:40pm on Monday (November 17).

This is the first case filed over killings and other crimes against humanity committed during the July Uprising.

Reacting to the death sentence handed to her, Hasina denied the accusations made against her in the court and said that the order was made by a "rigged tribunal established and presided over by an unelected government with no democratic mandate".

Apart from the former prime minister, the country's ex-interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal was also sentenced to death in absentia. He was found guilty on four counts of “crimes against humanity”.

In a letter, Bangladesh's foreign ministry cited an extradition agreement with India to seek the former prime minister's return, who has been staying in New Delhi ever since her ouster from her country.

"Providing refuge to these individuals, who have been convicted of crimes against humanity, by any other country would be a highly unfriendly act and a disregard for justice,” the letter from the ministry read.