United Nations officials have openly opposed a death‑sentence handed to Bangladesh’s opposition leader, Sheikh Hasina, by a court in Bangladesh.
At the UN’s daily briefing on Monday, spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told reporters that Secretary‑General António Guterres “strongly objects to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances.” He added that the UN’s stance aligns with that of Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk, who has called the verdict an “important moment for victims of grave violations committed during the suppression of protests last year in Bangladesh.”
The sentence was delivered by the International Crimes Tribunal, a court made up solely of Bangladeshi judges. The tribunal originally handled cases from the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, trying collaborators of Pakistan’s army for genocide crimes. In recent years it has been revived to try current political figures, including Sheikh Hasina, on charges tied to the crackdown on 2023 student protests—charges that forced her into exile in India.
Türk’s office emphasised that the verdict should “unquestionably meet international standards of due process and fair trial.” The UN Human Rights team also noted that they were not privy to the conduct of the trial and urged that proceedings—especially those conducted in absentia—satisfy fair‑trial norms.
Overall, the United Nations condemns the death penalty and insists on the protection of human rights, calling for a judicial process that fully respects due‑process guarantees.
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