Tharoor calls Hasina’s death sentence ‘a troubling development’

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday said that he does not believe in death penalty and that former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina having been given death sentence by International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh was "a very troubling development".

Tharoor, MP, said that it is not appropriate for him to comment on internal matters of another country's judiciary but noted that the verdict is "not a positive development".

"Both domestically and abroad, I don't believe in the death penalty. Trial in absentia, when somebody doesn't get a chance to defend themselves and explain themselves and then you declare a death penalty...It is inappropriate to comment on the matters of another country's judiciary. But I must say that it's a very troubling development," the Congress leader said.

The International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh) sentenced Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death for committing "crimes against humanity" over the state crackdown on student protests that were organised in July and August 2024.

The tribunal found the former PM guilty on all five charges of crimes against humanity, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

The news outlet further said that the judgement concludes that Hasina and the two other accused, former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun and Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, had orchestrated and committed atrocities during the July-August movement.

The Awami League leader, who is currently in exile in India, was tried in absentia. The 78-year-old leader had fled to New Delhi after the fall of her regime in Dhaka.

Responding to her conviction, Sheikh Hasina said that the decision was made by a rigged tribunal established and presided over by an unelected government with no democratic mandate.