Sheikh Hasina’s Spokesperson Mohammad Ali Arafat on the ICT’s ‘Legally Void’ Sentence |
On November 17, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) convicted and sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death in absentia, after a months-long trial that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year. Her 15-year rule, marked by accusations of authoritarianism, electoral manipulation and cronyism, ended abruptly in August 2024, when student-led protests erupted into nationwide unrest. Hasina was forced to flee to India, where she has been ever since.
Speaking from exile in India, Hasina dismissed the judgment as “politically motivated.” Back home in Bangladesh, the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government described the verdict as “historic.” While many Bangladeshis have celebrated the guilty verdict and the death sentence handed out to Hasina, sections in Bangladesh and abroad have questioned the legitimacy of the trial process.
In an interview with independent journalist Yusuph Choudhury, Hasina’s spokesperson, Mohammad Ali Arafat, who is also in exile in India, shared his insights into what he describes as a deeply flawed trial process that culminated in the guilty verdict. A former minister of information and broadcasting in the Hasina government, Arafat said: “The judgment handed down to Sheikh Hasina was preordained — the verdict was decided before the trial even began.”
What is your response to the guilty verdict and the death sentence handed out to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by a special tribunal in Bangladesh?
The death sentence handed down by this kangaroo court is legally void. It was issued by judges who lacked constitutional authority, used illegally obtained evidence, denied the defendant her chosen counsel, and violated every principle of fair trial guaranteed under international law. The prosecution’s demand that she must surrender within 30 days or lose appeal rights is particularly outrageous. It essentially says that she must walk into certain execution before challenging the verdict.
The tribunal and the trial were deeply flawed in several ways. The tribunal’s judges and prosecutors were forced to resign, and then, a new tribunal was reconstituted with individuals linked to the Awami League’s political opposition, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Amar Bangladesh Party, etc. The tribunal was reconstituted through an illegal amendment to the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973, as it was not ratified by parliament due to the absence of a functioning legislative body.
One of the judges of the ICT, Shofiul Alam Mahmood, was an active member of the BNP’s lawyers’ forum and had never previously served as a judge. He was a practicing lawyer who was appointed as a High Court judge just six days before being appointed to the ICT. He had no prior judicial experience or responsibility. His........