Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League moves International Court over retaliatory violence

The developments have come at a time when the interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, which assumed power after Hasina’s regime was ousted by student-led demonstrations in August last year, has begun preparations for holding a general election in February 2026.

The International Crimes Tribunal, a domestic war crimes court set up in Bangladesh in 2009, has concluded proceedings against Hasina, who is facing charges of crimes against humanity over the violent crackdown on the student protests in mid-2024. People familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the tribunal is widely expected to deliver its verdict at any time between November 10 and 15, though some reports suggested it may be delayed until the end of the month.

Prosecutors have sought the death sentence for Hasina, who fled from Dhaka and has lived in self-exile in India since August 2024, for the death of some 1,400 people in the weeks of unrest that ended her 15-year rule. Hasina denied the charges in an interview with Reuters, saying she wasn’t personally involved in ordering the use of lethal force or other alleged crimes.

Ahead of the tribunal’s verdict, a London-based legal firm has filed an “Article 15 Communication” to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on behalf of the Awami League, seeking an investigation into “retaliatory violence committed against Awami League officials in Bangladesh in the wake of the uprising of July 2024”.

The communication said that violent mobs killed 400 Awami League leaders and activists through beatings and lynchings. It further alleged that 25 Awami League figures have died in custody since July 2024.

The communication also alleges that Awami League members and supporters have been unlawfully detained on unsubstantiated grounds without bail or charge, and that 18,000 people were arrested in 12 days as part of “Operation Devil Hunt” that targeted what was described as “Awami fascism”.

The Awami League has also informed the ICC that politicians, judges, lawyers, journalists and those “tenuously affiliated” with the party were arrested, and a so-called “immunity order” was issued by the interim government to those “responsible for retaliatory abuses”

The people cited above, familiar with thinking in official quarters in Dhaka, said they believed the Awami League’s effort to raise the matter with the ICC is unlikely to succeed.

The Indian side, which has not responded to the Bangladesh interim government’s request to extradite Hasina, has so far not commented on the case against the former premier at the International Crimes Tribunal.

When external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was asked about the planned elections in Bangladesh, he said that the polls must be inclusive and participatory. The interim government in Dhaka had earlier this year banned all activities of the Awami League.

“It is our expectation that the elections in Bangladesh…should be free, fair, inclusive and participatory in nature,” Jaiswal said.