Dhaka, Oct 29 : Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on Thursday handed down a death sentence to Mahbubul Alam Hanif, Joint General Secretary of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League party, for crimes against humanity linked to the July 2024 mass uprising, local media reported.
The tribunal also sentenced three other Awami League leaders â€" Sadar Uddin Khan, Azgar Ali and Ataur Rahman Ata â€" to life imprisonment in the case.
A three-member bench of the tribunal, led by Chairman Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, delivered the verdict.
Hanif was convicted on counts 1 to 6 of the first charge and sentenced to death. He was also sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour after being found guilty on the second and third charges.
The other three accused were found guilty on counts 1 to 6 of the first charge and sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour. All four defendants remain in hiding, Bangladeshi daily Dhaka Tribune reported.
The latest verdict comes amid an escalating crackdown on Awami League leaders, with several senior figures of the party facing death sentences in cases linked to the July 2024 mass uprising.
Last month, the ICT sentenced Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader and six other senior leaders of the party and its affiliated organisations to death for "crimes against humanity" in connection with the uprising.
Following the verdict, Bangladesh's Awami League categorically rejected the death sentences handed down to seven party leaders and activists by the ICT, describing the ruling as "one-sided, biased and fabricated".
The party alleged that the "so-called verdict" marked the latest "weaponisation of judiciary" to exterminate political dissenters.
Highlighting that none of the individuals against whom the verdict was pronounced was present before the tribunal, it said, "A fundamental standard of international criminal law is that even in trials conducted in absentia, minimum legal protections -- including the right of the accused to choose counsel of their own liking -- must be guaranteed. However, these guarantees have been completely ignored in the present tribunal."
According to the Awami League, the whole judicial process has been rushed through, displaying "utter disregard" for the fundamental and universally recognised principles of international human rights law and international criminal law, thereby promoting a "culture of impunity and political vengeance" rather than the rule of law.
It stated that not only the latest verdict, but all ICT activities since August 5, 2024, constitute a gross violation of international law and human rights.
