Bangladesh beefs up security ahead of verdict against ousted PM Sheikh Hasina

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) – The interim government in Bangladesh beefed up security in the nation’s capital and elsewhere Monday ahead of an expected verdict against ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who faces charges of crimes against humanity involving last year’s uprising that killed hundreds of people and ended her 15-year rule.

Paramilitary border guards and police were deployed in Dhaka and many other parts of the country as Hasina’s Awami League party called for a nationwide shutdown Monday to protest against the verdict, calling the tribunal a “kangaroo court.”

The prosecution in a special tribunal has sought the death penalty for Hasina, exiled in India, and a former home minister, who is possibly also in India. It did not recommend any penalty for a third suspect – a former police chief who became a state witness and pleaded guilty. Verdicts for all three are expected Monday.

Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan face charges of crimes against humanity for the killing of hundreds of people during a student-led uprising in July and August of 2024. The United Nations in a February report said up to 1,400 may have been killed in the violence, while the country’s health adviser under the interim government said more than 800 people were killed and about 14,000 were injured. Both of them are being tried in absentia.

The tribunal last week fixed Monday for delivering the verdict as reports of explosions of crude bombs and arson led to the disruption of classes and transportation across the country after the “lockdown” called for by Hasina’s party.

As the tribunal was set to convene Monday morning, the former ruling party called for the shutdown again, with Hasina in an audio message urging her supporters not to be “nervous” about the verdict. Hasina has survived at least 19 assassination attempts during her decades-long political career since 1981.

The verdict is set to come as local media reported new explosions of crude bombs in Dhaka, including one in front of the house of an adviser, equivalent to a Cabinet minister, on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Dhaka’s police chief Sheikh Mohammad Sazzat Ali issued a “shoot-on-sight” order if anyone attempts to torch vehicles or hurl crude bombs. The directive came as nearly 50 arson attacks, mostly targeting vehicles, and dozens of explosions of crude bombs have been reported nationwide over the past week. Two people were killed in the arson attacks, local media reported.

Authorities at the Supreme Court, in a letter to army headquarters on Sunday, requested the deployment of soldiers around the tribunal premises ahead of the verdict.

The prosecution said the tribunal’s deliberation of the verdict could be broadcast live on the state-run Bangladesh Television and other TV stations channels.

Hasina was ousted on Aug. 5 last year and fled to India. Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over as the head of an interim government three days after her fall. Yunus vowed to punish Hasina and banned the activities of her Awami League party.

Both Hasina and her party have called the special tribunal a “kangaroo court” and denounced the appointment of a lawyer by the state to represent her.

Yunus said his interim government would hold the next elections in February, and that Hasina’s party would not get a chance to contest the race.

Bangladesh’s politics under Yunus has remained at a crossroads with limited signs of stability.