Death Sentence for Awami League's Hanif in July Uprising Case

Mahbubul Alam Hanif, a joint general secretary of the Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina, has been sentenced to death by Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal over crimes against humanity linked to the July 2024 uprising. The verdict was delivered on Thursday, October 29, according to local media reports.

The tribunal also sentenced three other Awami League leaders to life imprisonment in the case. They are Sadar Uddin Khan, Ajgar Ali and Ataur Rahman Ata. The three-member bench was headed by tribunal chairman Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury.

Hanif was found guilty on six counts under the first charge and sentenced to death. For his convictions on the second and third charges, he was also awarded life imprisonment with rigorous imprisonment.

The other three accused were convicted on six counts under the first charge and each received life imprisonment with rigorous imprisonment. All four accused are reported to be currently at large.

The decision comes at a time when action against Awami League leaders has intensified. Several senior party leaders have already been sentenced to death in cases related to the July 2024 uprising.

Earlier last month, the tribunal sentenced Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader and six other senior leaders of the party and its affiliated organisations to death in crimes against humanity cases stemming from the uprising. The party rejected the death sentences handed to its seven leaders and workers.

The Awami League termed the tribunal's verdicts one-sided, biased and invented. It alleged that the judiciary was being misused to crush political dissent.

The party also raised objections over the fact that none of those sentenced were present in court. It stressed that international criminal law requires minimum legal safeguards in trials conducted in absentia, including the accused's right to choose their own lawyer. According to the party, the current tribunal had completely ignored these rights.

The party asserted that the entire trial process was carried out in haste and flagrantly disregarded fundamental principles of international human rights and criminal law. It claimed that such proceedings were fostering impunity and political vendetta rather than the rule of law.

The Awami League added that the tribunal's activities since August 5, 2024, not just the latest verdict, constitute serious violations of international law and human rights.