Why Taslima Nasreen Questions Sheikh Hasina’s Criminal Label

Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has sharply criticised the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) for sentencing former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death, questioning why interim chief advisor Muhammad Yunus and his associates have not faced similar accountability for last year’s violent student uprising that toppled Hasina’s government.

In its landmark ruling on Monday, the ICT convicted Hasina of crimes against humanity, holding her responsible for ordering shootings and failing to prevent killings during the July 2024 protests. The uprising forced Hasina to flee to India on August 5, ending her 15-year rule.

Reacting on X late Monday, Nasreen accused the interim administration under Yunus of hypocrisy. She argued that the same actions for which Hasina is being punished — ordering force against rioters — were carried out by Yunus’s own security machinery after he assumed office in August 2024.

“The actions for which Hasina has been declared unjust by Yunus and his jihadi forces — when Yunus and those same forces commit the very same actions, they declare them to be just,” Nasreen wrote. She questioned when the “farce in the name of justice” would end in Bangladesh.

Nasreen, living in exile in India since 1994 due to threats from Islamist fundamentalists over her book Lajja, has in recent months taken a strongly critical stand against Yunus. She has accused the Nobel laureate of “crimes against humanity” and demanded that his Nobel Peace Prize be revoked.

ICT’s Verdict and Its Political Impact

Besides Hasina, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan was also sentenced to death. Ex-Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun received a five-year sentence after turning state witness.

The verdict comes ahead of national elections scheduled for early February. With Hasina’s Awami League barred from contesting, analysts fear the ruling could intensify political tensions and spark renewed unrest.

Hasina called the verdict “biased, politically motivated” and issued by a “rigged tribunal with no legitimacy”. Yunus, however, defended the judgment, stating that no leader is above the law.

Yunus took charge as chief advisor on August 8, 2024, days after Hasina fled Bangladesh following the nationwide revolt led by students protesting alleged abuses of power.