Taslima Nasreen questions ICT verdict: ‘Why Sheikh Hasina punished while Muhammad Yunus walks free?’

Bangladeshi-British writer Taslima Nasreen has attacked the verdict of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), which sentenced Bangladesh’s ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to death, as a “farce in the name of justice” and has demanded similar charges against interim government chief Muhammad Yunus.

Writing on X (formerly Twitter), Nasreen said: “Is it just to call Hasina a criminal for giving orders to shoot students during the July-August 2024 uprising, when Muhammed Yunus and his jihadi forces who did the same are allowed to get away?”

She added that the tribunal which convicted Hasina of these crimes was “created by the interim government of Muhammad Yunus”. Nasreen accused it of being “duplicitous: when Yunus and those same jihadi forces commit the very same actions, they declare them to be just … why is Hasina being considered a criminal for giving the order last July to shoot those who committed acts of sabotage?”

Hasina faces three charges: incitement to violence, ordering the killing of protesters, and failure to stop the atrocities during the student-led unrest.

She was tried in absentia, and the tribunal said it found enough evidence to support the charges.

In addition to Hasina, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan was sentenced to death while ex-Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun was sentenced to prison time.

Nasreen also demanded that Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2006, be stripped of his Nobel Peace Prize and jailed for life for committing “crimes against humanity” in the months following Hasina’s ouster.

Responding to the verdict, Muhammad Yunus said that it sets a precedent that “no one, regardless of power, is above the law.”

The decision, he added, will bring justice to the victims of the July protests, which a UN report later estimated could have resulted in as many as 1,400 deaths.

Hasina, however, who has been living in exile in New Delhi, dismissed the charges as “politically motivated”, and claimed the tribunal was “rigged” and the process “biased.”

Awami League has also been banned from participating in elections under Yunus’ interim government.

The verdict comes as Bangladesh heads to a volatile election period, with parliamentary polls expected in the coming months. Some observers warn the decision could fuel more instability.