Dhaka: The prosecution of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has announced plans to appeal to the Supreme Court, aiming to escalate the life sentences of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to the death penalty. This appeal pertains to their involvement in crimes against humanity linked to the 2024 July Uprising.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, ICT prosecutor Gazi MH Tamim confirmed the prosecution’s intent to seek a harsher sentence. “The death penalty will be sought by increasing the sentence in the life-term imprisonment,” he stated. The prosecution has received the verdict, which was awarded on November 17, and observed that Hasina and Kamal were sentenced to life imprisonment on one count while receiving a death sentence on another charge. The appeal is directed at the life sentence, with the intent to elevate it to a death penalty.
The legal team has obtained a full copy of the verdict, which sentenced the ousted premier and former Home Minister to death. In addition, former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun was found guilty but received a five-year imprisonment sentence, deemed lenient due to his cooperation with investigators as an approver.
The verdict was delivered by the three-member International Crimes Tribunal-1, led by Justice Md. Golam Mortuza Majumder. The case addresses allegations that the former Awami League Government, along with its cadres and a faction of law enforcement agencies, committed genocide and crimes against humanity during the suppression of a mass uprising by students and the public in July-August 2024. The trial of these allegations continues in two international crimes tribunals.