Families Demand Extradition After Hasina and Ex-Home Minister Sentenced to Death in Absentia

Shahina Begum collapsed in tears after a special court in Dhaka sentenced former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her close aide, ex-home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, to death in absentia for crimes against humanity. Begum’s 20-year-old son, Sajjat Hosen Sojal, was shot and his body burned by police on August 5, 2024 — hours before student-led protests forced Hasina to resign and flee the country.

Prosecutors say six student protesters were killed that day in Ashulia, a garment-manufacturing suburb of Dhaka: five were shot and their bodies burned, and another was allegedly burned alive inside a police station. The killings are described as part of a wider security-force crackdown during the July Uprising, which the United Nations says left more than 1,400 protesters dead.

After a months-long trial held in absentia because Hasina and Khan fled to neighbouring India, the Dhaka International Crimes Tribunal handed death sentences to the two on Monday. A third defendant, former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah al-Mamun, received a five-year prison term after agreeing to become a state witness.

“I cannot be calm until she is brought back and hanged in this country,” said Shahina Begum, whose son screamed for help inside the police station and was not rescued. “I will not rest until those who burned him can never harm another mother’s child again.”

Hundreds of families who lost loved ones in the uprising welcomed the verdict but questioned whether it could be enforced. Many asked whether India — which was a close ally during Hasina’s 15 years in power — will extradite her and Khan or protect them. “They took five minutes to burn my son alive, but it took almost a year and a half to deliver this verdict,” Begum said from her ancestral home in Shyampur village, Gaibandha district.

Outside the tribunal, relatives of the dead urged authorities to bring Hasina back to Bangladesh to enforce the judgment. Mir Mahbubur Rahman Snigdho, whose brother was killed during the uprising, argued that Hasina “deserves the maximum penalty many times over.” Syed Gazi Rahman, father of slain protester Mutasir Rahman, demanded the sentence be carried out “swiftly and publicly.”

Across the country, families of victims expressed a range of emotions — from relief to unresolved grief. In Rangpur, the parents of Abu Sayeed, the first casualty of the July Uprising, distributed sweets to visitors after hearing the verdict and urged immediate extradition and execution. Others described the ruling as only a partial consolation, saying true justice will arrive only if sentences are enforced.

Student groups staged marches and vowed to press for extradition. A cultural organisation staged a symbolic enactment of an execution to signal that no future leader should be allowed to commit similar abuses. Political parties including the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party welcomed the ruling as proof that no leader is above the law.

International rights bodies urged caution. The UN human rights office said the verdict was “an important moment for the victims” but warned that trials held in absentia that result in a death sentence may not meet due process and fair-trial standards. Amnesty International also raised concerns, saying victims “deserve far better” and that capital punishment would compound human-rights violations.

Survivors and relatives said the ruling nonetheless recognises the brutality of the crackdown and offers a measure of closure. Atikul Gazi, a 21-year-old who survived a point-blank shooting on August 5 and lost an arm, said the decision felt like a small peace for the victims’ families.

Key questions remain: whether India will extradite Hasina and Khan, how Dhaka will enforce the sentences if they return, and whether domestic politics could alter the outcome. For many families, the verdict is a milestone, but the path from courtroom judgment to accountability is still uncertain.