Former Prime Minister and President of the Bangladesh Awami League Sheikh Hasina has issued a forceful statement rejecting the verdicts delivered against her by the International Crimes Tribunal. She described the Bangladesh’s tribunal as a rigged mechanism created and led by an unelected government with no democratic mandate.
According to her, Dr. Yunus led rulings are biased, politically motivated, and designed by extremist elements within the interim administration to eliminate Bangladesh’s last elected prime minister and dismantle the Awami League as a democratic political force.
Sheikh Hasina stated that millions of Bangladeshis living under what she called the chaotic, violent and socially regressive rule of Dr Mohammad Yunus will not be deceived by this attempt to curtail their democratic rights.
She said the trials conducted by the so called International Crimes Tribunal were never intended to uncover truth or provide insight into the events of July and August 2025. Instead, she argued, the purpose was to scapegoat the Awami League and divert international attention from the failures of Dr Yunus and his ministers.
She pointed to deteriorating public services, police withdrawal from crime affected streets, and the erosion of judicial fairness, alongside escalating assaults on Awami League supporters.
She further alleged that religious minorities, particularly Hindus, have been attacked, women’s rights suppressed, and Islamic extremists inside the administration, including members of Hizb ut Tahrir, have worked to undermine Bangladesh’s secular identity.
She said journalists have been detained and intimidated, economic growth has stalled, elections have been delayed, and the Awami League banned from contesting.
She noted that these conditions are well documented by international media, global organisations and impartial bodies such as the International Monetary Fund.
She urged the remaining international admirers of Dr Yunus to reflect on the fact that no citizen of Bangladesh has ever voted for him. She added that the future of Bangladesh belongs to its people, and next year’s election must be free, fair and inclusive.
Responding to the accusations brought through the International Crimes Tribunal, Sheikh Hasina denied all charges. She mourned the deaths that occurred during the unrest of July and August but insisted that neither she nor any political leader ordered the killing of protestors. She emphasised that she was denied a fair chance to defend herself and was not permitted to appoint lawyers of her choice, even in absentia.
She argued that despite its name, the tribunal is neither international nor impartial. She noted that senior judges and advocates perceived as sympathetic to the previous government were removed or silenced, and that the tribunal exclusively targeted Awami League leaders while ignoring violence committed by other groups against minorities, journalists, indigenous communities and others.
She said the verdict against her was predetermined and that no respected jurist would endorse the tribunal’s conduct. To her, the process resembled a political vendetta, similar to earlier politicised uses of the tribunal during the 1971 war crimes trials.
She reaffirmed her willingness to face charges in a legitimate court and repeated her call for the interim government to bring the case before the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
She claimed the interim authorities will not agree because they know she would be acquitted and because the International Criminal Court would scrutinise their own human rights record.
She contrasted her government’s democratic mandate with what she described as the unconstitutional ascent of Dr Yunus backed by extremist forces. She alleged that his administration violently suppressed protests by students, garment workers, doctors, nurses, teachers and professionals.
She said peaceful demonstrators were shot, journalists harassed and tortured, and that after assuming control, forces loyal to Yunus carried out attacks in Gopalganj and then filed cases against the wounded victims.
Across the country, she said, the homes and properties of Awami League supporters have been burned and destroyed. Since July 2024, she added, those responsible for these attacks have been granted indemnity while fabricated cases have been filed against Awami League members through the presentation of false evidence by a compromised chief prosecutor.
Sheikh Hasina alleged that terrorists, extremists and convicted killers have been released from prison, while Awami League activists have been incarcerated. Responding to allegations of human rights abuses, she reiterated that the events of July and August were a national tragedy but argued that political leaders acted in good faith to minimise loss of life.
She denied ordering the use of lethal force and said that evidence presented by prosecutors was fragmentary and taken out of context. Operational control, she said, rested with security forces acting under established protocols.
She stated that students were allowed to protest freely from 6 to 14 July and that she had accepted all their demands. The situation worsened after mid July when protestors vandalised communications infrastructure, causing widespread internet outages.
She detailed how police stations and government buildings were burned, weapons looted and state property attacked. She said the government responded in accordance with domestic and international law to preserve the constitution and protect citizens.
She rejected claims that Awami League activists burned state facilities, noting that several student leaders have publicly taken responsibility for those acts. She also questioned the credibility of a United Nations report cited by prosecutors, arguing that it relied on anonymous witnesses pressured to conform to the narrative of the interim government.
She said records that could have exonerated Awami League members were withheld from inspectors.
Hasina pointed to several unexplained aspects of the unrest, including allegations that provocateurs armed with military grade weapons escalated violence in the early stages.
She said a judicial inquiry committee established on 18 July 2024 had begun investigating these matters before being halted by the Yunus administration. She also questioned the widely cited figure of 1400 fatalities, noting that the Ministry of Health has verified 834 deaths.
The higher number, she said, appears to include unverified cases, as well as the deaths of police officers and Awami League activists killed by protestors. She said only 614 families have received state support and that investigations revealed several cases of deaths due to unrelated causes and individuals previously listed as deceased later found alive. She criticised the interim government for refusing to publish an official list of casualties.
Sheikh Hasina dismissed the remaining allegations of human rights violations as equally unsupported. She reaffirmed pride in her government’s record, citing Bangladesh’s entry into the International Criminal Court in 2010, its provision of refuge to Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar, major expansions in electricity and education, and fifteen years of economic progress that lifted millions from poverty.
She described these accomplishments as evidence of a leadership committed to human rights and national development, and said that the interim government under Dr Yunus and his advisers has no comparable achievements.
