Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death | Global News Podcast

Welcome to the Global News Podcast on. YouTube, where we go behind the. headlines to find out more about a story. and why it matters. In today's episode, we'll be looking at the news that the. former prime minister of Bangladesh, Sha. Cassina, has been sentenced to death by. a tribunal in Dhaka after she was found. guilty of ordering security forces to. kill protesters. She's also been. convicted of crimes against humanity. The sentencing happened in her absence. Shik Cena has been living in exile in.

India since she was ousted. Our global. affairs reporter and Barasan etan has. been following the story extensively and. Barisan take us back to the time of the. protests. What was Shikena's role? A student leader was shot dead uh in the. northern part of the country and it was. broadcast live on many television. channels and also people using their. social media channels live channels.

because they were covering the protest. It so happened. So that was a spark for. the protest to widen and also Shikhazina. was the powerful prime minister at that. time instead of reaching out to the. students what she was calling them as. you know antinationals like ref making a. reference to what happened during the. country's independent struggle in 1971. So that again angered students brought. in more people to the streets and then. it was getting bigger and bigger. You.

see thousands of people coming onto the. streets, waving the national flag, singing patriotic songs, holding big. banners saying no more to fism, we love. our Bangladesh, we want justice for the. killings and also using the small flags. as uh headbands. So and they showed the. defiance on the streets of Bangladesh. and then you see all the gravities and. that again the government was angered by.

these protests. But what they did was. they failed to see the growing anger. within the country and gradually people. from other walks of life also joined. like civil society groups, political. parties and also Islamists and students. from Madras. So when more and more. people coming in and the government was. trying to clamp down on these protests. then the violence escalated. Students. were killed and in some places police.

officers were killed. So the situation. was going out of control when she. deployed paramilitary forces and also. finally the army. Um by the time she. tried to reach out to the students it. was too late because dozens of people. had died by that time. And it was one of. those you know big uh generation z or. generation z protests you know before it. was happening in other places where the. students were leading asking for a. change in government. They want. democracy to be restored because they.

said they were tired of this repressive. rule for 15 years and then they started. storming many of the government. buildings when there were more and more. deaths were reported. It was all on. social media. It was one of those where. people were capturing all these events. uh on telephones on their mobile phones. and then putting it on social media live. feed. It was one of those social media. le protest you can say and that brought. the people from all walks of life and. finally they stormed before they stormed.

into her official resident she fled the. country. That was the end of. Sheikhasina. He went to India and that. was a massive uprising quite. unprecedented extraordinary event for. Bangladesh. >> and now a death sentence but she wasn't. there to hear it. >> She has been living in India uh since. she fled the country. So the trial which. started in June and there she's being. tried in absentia. She is not personally. present and she has defied the court. orders to return to the country to face.

uh the charges and her her argument has. been this has been a kangaroo court. It. was a farce. It a judicial farce and it. was a pre-ordained guilt verdict. So she. said she would not get justice. That was. one of the reasons why she was refusing. to come back. the government did appoint. a lawyer on her behalf but again there. may be questions about how much uh say. whether she had in appointing her own. lawyer. So there can be questions about.

the process followed about this. tribunal. This is a Bangladeshi. tribunal. This is not an international. criminal court. So how far the standards. matching between the ICC as well as the. Bangladeshi tribunal but there was lot. of evidence. One thing as I pointed out. earlier there was lot of evidence on. videos and people taking photographs. about this massive protest. It became. like a a national event at that time. when people from all walks of life even. children were you know coming out and.

taking part because of 15 years they had. stifling of disscent even the student. protest were crushed earlier. So that. was the outburst that happened even. though she was not there obviously she. can challenge it u and also whether it. meets the international standards but. for many people who went through this. for the families and the victims it is a. cathartic moment that she was given you. a guilty verdict and then they want. closure but again whether how far the.

verdict can satisfy for the people who. lost their loved ones because they're. not going to get them back and. life-changing injuries for many. What's she like? Because you've met her, haven't you? And it wasn't that long ago. that she she was seen as something of an. economic hero. >> She was one of the, you know, longest. serving prime ministers in the world. And she was always seen as a model. You. know you can see her wearing a colorful. silk saris or Bangladeshi made saris and.

coming on global stages with the leaders. all the US presidents and they will be. always showcasing Bangladesh as a. development model because of the. economy. I was based in Bangladesh for. three years and I met her quite a few. times at that time interviews and she. always would come across as someone very. you know full of warmth and affection. She will ask you she will first thing I. know any help you need always come back. and you should have food. So she was a. very you know when you talk to her she.

will come up as a very lovely person. with a full of warmth and smile. Uh but. >> so where did it go wrong? >> Yeah and and she was seen as a democracy. pro-democracy icon in the 80s. She was. in the forefront against the military. rule and she was fighting for restoring. democracy in Bangladesh in the 80s and. again in 20078 even though there was. some attempts were made to retire her. from politics. one thing she's all she's. a very you know very strong woman. fighter and don't forget it is a.

male-dominated society you know in a. south Asia in a Muslim majority nation. for women leaders it is very difficult. they have to assert themselves even. though they have other examples like. Benazir Bhau Indra Gandhi in India there. were other leaders but then her what. many people told me when I was in. Bangladesh as well like if she had. conducted the elections free and fair. she could have won But the fact that you. know after a while the sense of. insecurity gets what happens if I lose.

power? We don't want to lose power. That. is why the at once um opposition parties. boycotted the election. That kind of. steely resolve was there but no one was. expecting her to pass such a draconian. laws like the digital security act. Uh. thousands of opposition supporters were. put in jail. She was disregarding the. opinion of the UN human rights office as. well as the human rights groups. and she. got closer and closer with India. So at. one point probably she thought India.

would support her in international arena. and I also spoke to you know US. ambassadors in Dhaka or Indian. officials. They all thought probably. India was in a way backing her up that. would save her but at a point reached. that made even lot of Bangladeshies to. turn against India. There was a lot of. anti-India feeling within Bangladesh. uh. these two countries share very close. ties but in the end you know when it. when you go on the top when you are. sitting at the top of the pyramid you.

are cut off from the rest of the society. you don't understand what the people are. thinking on the on the ground on the. streets and you get surrounded by people. who tell you what you want to hear. rather than what you should hear and. probably that was one of the reasons why. you know she a a pro-democracy icon who. later turned into a sort of autocrat. >> Briefly, is there any chance India will. send her back to Bangladesh? >> It is a very tricky situation for India. because she fostered very close ties.

with India during the 15-year rule and. there is a broader political consensus. within India not to send her back. So, it is highly unlikely that India will. send her back, you know, so that she can. be go through the sentence, go through. this punishment. But this can also. worsen ties between the two countries. >> Thanks Anarasan. And you can hear more on this story and. many other stories from around the world. on the Global News podcast available.

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