Dhaka
\nThe verdict in the crimes against humanity case against ousted Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina will be delivered on November 13, the attorney general said, as the trial ended on Thursday.
\nHasina, 78, has defied court orders to return from India to face charges of ordering a deadly crackdown in a failed attempt to crush a student-led uprising.
\n\u201cIf she believed in the justice system, she should have returned,\u201d Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman said in his closing speech of the nearly five-month-long trial in Dhaka.
\n\u201cShe was the prime minister but fled, leaving behind the entire nation\u2014 her fleeing corroborates the allegations.\u201d
\nHer trial in absentia, which opened on June 1, heard months of testimony alleging Hasina ordered mass killings.
\nUp to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024, according to the United Nations.
\nProsecutors have filed five charges, including failure to prevent murder, amounting to crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law.
\nThey have demanded the death penalty if she is found guilty.
\nChief prosecutor Tajul Islam has accused Hasina of being \u201cthe nucleus around whom all the crimes were committed\u201d during the uprising.
\nHer co-accused are former interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, also a fugitive, and ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who is in custody and has pleaded guilty.
\n\u2018We want justice\u2019
\nWitnesses included a man whose face was ripped apart by gunfire.
\nThe prosecution also played audio tapes \u2014 verified by police \u2014 that suggested Hasina directly ordered security forces to \u201cuse lethal weapons\u201d against protesters.
\nHasina, assigned a state-appointed lawyer, has refused to recognise the court\u2019s authority.
\nDefence lawyer Md Amir Hossain said she was \u201cforced to flee\u201d Bangladesh, claiming that she \u201cpreferred death and a burial within her residence compound\u201d.
\nHer now-banned Awami League says she \u201ccategorically denies\u201d all charges and has denounced the proceedings as \u201clittle more than a show trial\u201d.
\nAsaduzzaman, the attorney general, said it had been a fair trial that sought justice for all victims.
\n\u201cWe want justice for both sides of the crimes against humanity case, that claimed 1,400 lives,\u201d he said, listing several of those killed, including children.
\nThe verdict will come three months ahead of elections expected in early February 2026, the first since Hasina\u2019s overthrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dhaka The verdict in the crimes against humanity case against ousted Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina will be delivered on November 13, the attorney general said, as the trial ended on Thursday. Hasina, 78, has defied court orders to return from India to face charges of ordering a deadly crackdown in a failed attempt to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":510517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-510496","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n