Sheikh Hasina, Sajeeb Wazed

International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) East in Bangladesh today (17 November) Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Will announce the verdict on the charges against. Today it will be decided whether Sheikh Hasina will receive the death penalty. While on one hand, before the verdict is announced today, Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wajed has warned that the court can sentence him to death, but he said that he is safe during his exile in India.

He also warned that if the ban on his party was not lifted, his supporters would disrupt next year’s elections.

Clashes broke out in many areas

Sajeeb Wazed put forward these things in an interview given to Reuters. The son gave the interview a day before the verdict on crimes against humanity against Hasina over the deadly crackdown on protests in Bangladesh last year. Before the verdict on Sheikh Hasina, incidents of violent clashes, arson, road jams and explosions took place in many areas of the country. Due to which an atmosphere of insecurity has been created in the entire country.

“Will give death penalty”

Wajed said in the US capital Washington DC, we know exactly what the decision is going to be. They are showing it on TV. They will find him guilty and perhaps even give him the death penalty. But what can they do with my mother? My mother is safe in India. India is giving them full security.

78-year-old Sheikh Hasina has been living in exile in New Delhi since August 2024 after the coup in the country. According to a United Nations report, about 1,400 people were killed during protests that year, most of them in firing by security forces.

What are the allegations against Sheikh Hasina?

The former leader is on trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for Bangladesh in connection with the deadly crackdown. The first charge against him is related to murder, attempt to murder, torture and other inhuman acts. The second allegation is that Hasina has given orders to eliminate the protesters.

The allegation is of instructing the students to use deadly weapons and giving inflammatory speeches. The remaining charges mention the killing and firing of 6 unarmed protesters. However, Sheikh Hasina denies all these allegations and calls these proceedings politically motivated.

Warning regarding elections

Wazed told Reuters that if the ban on the Awami League, a nominally centre-left and secular party that has been dominant in Bangladeshi politics since independence, remains in place, its supporters will not allow elections to be held. He said, there is going to be violence in Bangladesh before these elections.

The interim government led by Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus in May deregistered the Awami League party and banned its political activities, saying it posed a threat to national security and that senior leaders were being investigated for war crimes.

A government spokesperson rejected Wazed’s warning. According to Reuters, the spokesperson said, the interim government considers any incitement of violence, especially by exiled political figures, as extremely irresponsible and condemnable.

In an earlier interview given to The Associated Press, Wajed had said that the restrictions should be lifted and the elections should be inclusive, free and fair. What is happening now is actually an attempt to stop my mother and our political leaders from contesting elections.