‘Don’t believe in death penalty': Shashi Tharoor reacts to Sheikh Hasina verdict
Sheikh Hasina was counts of charges for “crimes against humanity” and sentenced to death on Monday by a tribunal court in Bangladesh.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor reacted to former prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina’s death sentence verdict by a tribunal court on Monday, saying that he does not believe in the death penalty, whether domestic or abroad. Hasina was found guilty on three counts of charges for “crimes against humanity” against student protesters last year that ousted her government.
Speaking to ANI, the Congress MP said, “I've said both domestically and abroad, I don't believe in the death penalty, so I find that particularly dismaying.”
Notably, Hasina had fled to India last year and has since been staying in New Delhi in a secret safe house. Her trial was conducted in absentia by the court, and she had also been declared a “fugitive” earlier.
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Tharoor said, “A trial in absentia where somebody doesn't get a chance to defend themselves, explain themselves, and then you declare a death penalty, it seems to me, it's not appropriate for me to comment on the internal matters of another country's judiciary, but I must say, I cannot say that I find it a very, shall we say, positive development; it's a very troubling development."
Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death over ‘crimes against humanity’
Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal found the former prime minister guilty of ordering the killings of the students and also instructing authorities to use drones, helicopters and other weapons against civilians.
"We have decided to inflict her with only one sentence, that is, sentence of death,” it said.
Hours after the verdict, Bangladesh’s foreign ministry approached India and requested the extradition of Hasina based on an existing bilateral agreement between the two countries. It also said that providing shelter to individuals convicted of crimes against humanity would be considered an "unfriendly" act and a disregard for justice.
In a statement, India reacted to Sheikh Hasina’s death sentence verdict and said that New Delhi is “committed to the best interests of the people of Bangladesh, including in peace, democracy, inclusion and stability in that country.”
Sheikh Hasina rejects all charges, calls tribunal ‘rigged’
In her statement, the former prime minister called the verdict “biased and politically motivated” and said that the announcement was made by a “rigged tribunal”.
She said, “The verdicts announced against me have been made by a rigged tribunal established and presided over by an unelected government with no democratic mandate”.
"They are biased and politically motivated,” she said.
