Dhaka, Bangladesh, Nov 17, 2025 /
16:58 pm
The secretary of the Bangladesh Catholic Bishops’ Conference has criticized the death sentence given to ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as unilateral and politically motivated, reaffirming the Church’s opposition to capital punishment.
Bishop Ponen Paul Kubi, CSC, of the Mymensingh Diocese, told CNA that the verdict handed down Nov. 17 by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal was “one-sided” and that “the accused had no lawyer and that the current government used political power to give this verdict.”
“The Catholic Church has never supported the death penalty,” Kubi said. “I think that even if Sheikh Hasina committed a crime, she should be punished in a way that is remedial.”
Describing the verdict as an abuse of power, Kubi added: “If we judge in a hurry and give a verdict as we wish, we are no longer living in civilization, we have gone back to the primitive era.”
The Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal found Hasina, 78, guilty of crimes against humanity related to the deadly crackdown on student-led protests in July and August 2024. The court sentenced both Hasina and her former home minister, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, to death in absentia. Former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun was sentenced to five years in prison after turning state witness.
The 453-page verdict, broadcast live on state television beginning around 12:30 p.m. local time Monday, found Hasina guilty on three of five charges, including ordering the use of drones, helicopters, and lethal weapons against protesters, and failing to prevent mass killings.
Background to the uprising
In July 2024, student protests against job quotas escalated into a mass uprising that forced Hasina to flee to India on Aug. 5. A United Nations investigation team reported that at least 1,400 people were killed, though Bangladeshi activists believe the number exceeds 2,000.
Hasina has been living in exile in India since fleeing the country. In a statement released through her Awami League party on Facebook, she called the verdicts “distasteful, biased, and politically motivated,” claiming they were made by “a rigged tribunal established and presided over by an unelected government with no democratic mandate.”
Divided public reaction
The verdict prompted sharply divided reactions across Bangladesh. While the banned Awami League held protest marches in several parts of the country, ordinary people held joy marches in most areas, including Dhaka, where sweets were distributed.
“We will be completely happy only when Sheikh Hasina comes to the country and is hanged,” Tarif Hasan, a Dhaka University student who participated in the celebration march, told CNA.
Professor Asif Nazrul, law adviser to the interim government, described the death sentence as “the greatest achievement in establishing justice” and called it “another victory day for the July Uprising.”
A public hearing on the case is scheduled to take place, and the interim government has formally requested India’s cooperation in extraditing Hasina to face the tribunal. National elections in Bangladesh are expected to be held in February.
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Stephan Uttom Rozario is a journalist and photographer based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, who covers religion, human rights, minorities, the environment, politics, and other contemporary issues.
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