"Shahina Begum broke down in tears the moment a special court in capital Dhaka sentenced deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her close aide, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, to death for crimes against humanity. Begum's 20-year-old son Sajjat Hosen Sojal was shot and his body burned by the police on August 5, 2024, hours before a student-led uprising forced Hasina to resign and flee the country she had ruled with an iron first for 15 years."
"Prosecutors allege that six student protesters were killed that day in Ashulia, a readymade garments hub on the outskirts of Dhaka: five shot and their bodies burned, while another was allegedly burned alive inside the police station. The killings, allegedly ordered by Hasina in a desperate bid to hang on to power, were part of a brutal crackdown by security forces on what is referred to in Bangladesh as the July Uprising, during which more than 1,400 protesters were killed, according to the United Nations."
"I cannot be calm until she [Hasina] is brought back and hanged in this country, Begum told Al Jazeera on Monday night, as the historic verdict triggered a surge of emotions across the country of 170 million people. My son screamed for help inside that police station. No one saved him. I will not rest until those who burned him can never harm another mother's child again."
A special court in Dhaka sentenced deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan to death for crimes against humanity after a months-long trial held in absentia. Prosecutors allege security forces killed six student protesters in Ashulia on August 5, 2024—five shot and burned, and one burned alive inside a police station—part of a wider crackdown during the July Uprising that the United Nations says killed more than 1,400 protesters. Hasina and Khan fled to neighbouring India. A third accused, former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah al-Mamun, received five years for turning state witness. Families demand return and punishment of those responsible, while uncertainty remains over whether the sentenced leaders will be returned to face execution.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]