DHAKA: A Bangladesh court sentenced a senior leader of the former ruling party to death in absentia on Thursday (Oct 29) for his role in the killings of six people during the 2024 uprising, while three other party leaders were sentenced to life imprisonment.
The four men, members of ousted leader Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League, were convicted of the murders of six people in western Kushtia district during the unrest, which led to the former premier’s ouster.
The leader sentenced to death by the three-member tribunal was Md Mahbubul Alam Hanif, the party’s joint general secretary, who also served as a minister during Hasina’s iron-fisted rule.
“The charges against the convicts were undoubtedly proved,” chief prosecutor Md Aminul Islam told reporters.
The tribunal also ordered the confiscation of half of their immovable properties to be distributed as compensation to the families of people killed or injured during the uprising, Islam said.
State-appointed defence lawyer Md Amir Hossain called the verdict “unacceptable”.
As many as 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024, according to the United Nations, when Hasina’s government attempted to suppress the student-led uprising.
Hasina’s 15-year rule ended in August 2024, when she fled by helicopter to neighbouring India, where she remains in hiding.
She was sentenced to death by hanging in absentia in November 2025.
Thursday’s sentencing brings the total number of people convicted of crimes related to the 2024 uprising to 72.
Of those, 23 have been sentenced to death, but only four are in custody.
Hasina has refused to accept the authority of the court.
The government of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, which won a landslide victory in February in the first elections since Hasina was ousted, has requested her extradition.
Hasina, 78, has said she will return to Bangladesh of her own volition in December, despite the death sentence she faces.
