Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death.

It comes after the 78-year-old was found guilty of ordering lethal force in a crackdown on a student-led uprising that ended her 15-year rule.

The former leader, who is now exiled in India, was tried in absentia by the Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) after the United Nations said up to 1,400 people may have been killed in last year’s violence.

Bangladesh‘s health adviser in the interim government said more than 800 people were killed and about 14,000 were injured.

Following a months-long trial, Hasina got a life sentence under charges for crimes against humanity and the death sentence for the killing of several people during the uprising.

In a statement released after the verdict, Hasina said the ruling was “biased and politically motivated” and “neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters”.

“I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where evidence can be weighed and tested fairly,” she added.

“I wholly deny the accusations that have been made against me in the ICT. I mourn all of the deaths that occurred in July and August of last year, on both sides of the political divide. But neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters.”

The students initially started protesting over the way government jobs were being allocated, but clashes with police and pro-government activists quickly escalated into violence.

The court revealed conversations of Hasina directing security officers to drop bombs from helicopters on the protesters.

She also permitted the use of lethal weapons, including shotguns at close range for maximum harm, the court was told.

Hasina, who previously called the tribunal a “kangaroo court”, fled to India in August 2024 at the height of the uprising.

She is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the country to independence.

Hasina is also the aunt of former UK government minister, Tulip Saddiq, who resigned from her Treasury job at the start of this year.

Ms Siddiq had faced calls to step down over links to her aunt and was also said to be facing a corruption trial in Bangladesh.

She told Sky News in August the accusations were “nothing more than a farce” and said she had never been contacted by the Bangladeshi authorities.

The ICT, Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes court located in the capital, delivered its four-hour verdict on Monday amid tight security.

The packed courtroom cheered and clapped when the sentence was read out.

The tribunal also sentenced former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan – also exiled in India – to death.

A third suspect, a former police chief, was sentenced to five years in prison as he became a state witness against Hasina and pleaded guilty.

The ruling is the most dramatic legal action against a former Bangladeshi leader since independence in 1971 and comes ahead of parliamentary elections expected to be held in February.

Foreign ministry officials in Bangladesh have called on India to hand over the former prime minister, adding it was obligated to do so under an existing treaty between the two nations.

India’s foreign ministry said it had noted the verdict concerning Hasina and “remained committed” to the people of Bangladesh.

“We will always engage constructively with all stakeholders to that end,” the ministry added in a statement.

During the verdict, protesters had gathered outside the former home-turned-museum of Hasina’s late father demanding the building be demolished.

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Police used batons and stun grenades to disperse the crowd.

Paramilitary border guards and police have been deployed in Dhaka and many other parts of the country, while the interim government warned any attempt to create disorder will be “strictly” dealt with.

Hasina’s Awami League party called for a nationwide shutdown in protest at the verdict.

The mood in the country had been described as tense ahead of Monday’s ruling.

At least 30 crude bomb explosions and 26 vehicles were set on fire across Bangladesh during the past few days.

Local media said two people were killed in the arson attacks, according to the Associated Press.

Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister, has been sentenced to death after being convicted of crimes against humanity.

It follows a months-long trial in the country that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year.

The former leader, exiled in India, was tried in absentia after the United Nations said up to 1,400 people may have been killed in the violence.

Bangladesh’s health adviser under the interim government said more than 800 people were killed and about 14,000 were injured.

The students initially started protesting over the way government jobs were being allocated, but clashes with police and pro-government activists quickly escalated into violence.

The court revealed conversations of Hasina directing security officers to drop bombs from helicopters on the protesters.

She also permitted the use of lethal weapons, including shotguns at close range for maximum harm, the court was told.

Hasina, who previously called the tribunal a “kangaroo court”, fled to India in August 2024 at the height of the uprising, ending 15 years of rule.

In a statement released after the verdict, Hasina said the ruling was “biased and politically motivated” and “neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters”.

“I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where evidence can be weighed and tested fairly,” she added.

The 78-year-old is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the country to independence.

The International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes court located in the capital Dhaka, delivered its four-hour verdict amid tight security.

Hasina received a life sentence under charges for crimes against humanity and the death sentence for the killing of several people during the uprising.

The packed courtroom cheered and clapped when the sentence was read out.

The tribunal also sentenced former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan – also exiled in India – to death.

A third suspect, a former police chief, was sentenced to five years in prison as he became a state witness against Hasina and pleaded guilty.

The ruling is the most dramatic legal action against a former Bangladeshi leader since independence in 1971 and comes ahead of parliamentary elections expected to be held in February.

Foreign ministry officials in Bangladesh have called on India to hand over the former prime minister, adding it was obligated to do so under an existing treaty between the two nations. India has not yet made any response.

Paramilitary border guards and police have been deployed in Dhaka and many other parts of the country, while the interim government warned any attempt to create disorder will be “strictly” dealt with.

It comes after Hasina’s Awami League party called for a nationwide shutdown as part of a protest against the verdict.

The mood in the country had been described as tense ahead of Monday’s ruling.

At least 30 crude bomb explosions and 26 vehicles were set on fire across Bangladesh during the past few days.

Local media said two people were killed in the arson attacks, according to the Associated Press.

Hasina is also the aunt of former UK government minister, Tulip Saddiq, who resigned from her Treasury job at the start of this year.

Read more from Sky News:
Hundreds of tonnes of ‘revolting’ waste dumped next to river
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Ms Siddiq had faced calls to step down over links to her aunt and was also said to be facing a corruption trial in Bangladesh.

She told Sky News in August the accusations were “nothing more than a farce” and said she had never been contacted by the Bangladeshi authorities.

Sky News has seen multiple warehouses in the Jordanian capital Amman, packed full of critical aid earmarked for the Gaza Strip.

There are three other similar locations in the country and run by the Jordanian authorities holding aid intended for Gaza.

There are also large amounts of aid being stored separately by the United Nations in Jordan.

Both the Jordanian authorities and the UN say the majority of aid collected has been sitting in Jordan since March, with only a negligible amount of aid being allowed into Gaza because of Israeli restrictions on aid going into the Strip.

The news comes as tens of thousands of families living in tents in Gaza have been affected by flooding following heavy rains across the region.

The stored aid is equivalent to thousands of trucks’ worth of aid – in Jordan alone.

And the United Nations says there’s even more aid being held back in Egypt too – in total, enough aid to provide food for the entire Gaza population for about three months, according to the deputy commissioner general for UNRWA, Natalie Boucly, who was interviewed by The Guardian.

Sky’s special correspondent Alex Crawford, who is in Amman, said: “The aid in Jordan alone includes critical supplies such as tents and tarpaulins as well as blankets, mattresses, medicines like paracetamol as well as baby formula… all being stored here and held back, according to the UN here in Jordan and the Jordanian authorities, all being refused entry by the Israelis.”

What has UNICEF said?

The UN aid agency for children has called on Israel to allow all of its supplies into Gaza.

Writing on X, UNICEF said it had already distributed more than 5,000 tents, 220,000 tarps and 29,000 winter clothes kits.

The Israeli defence body in charge of humanitarian aid in Gaza, COGAT, has said it is allowing in winter materials including blankets and tarps, which are water-resistant sheets made of canvas or plastic used for protection from the elements.

But aid organisations have warned the efforts are completely inadequate and vastly outnumbered by those in need – an estimated 1.4 million people are classified as vulnerable by aid agencies.

In contrast, on X, COGAT said it had “facilitated close to 140,000 tarpaulins directly to the residents of the Gaza Strip” and had spent the past few months coordinating with the international community.

It went on: “We call on international organisations to coordinate more tents and tarpaulins and other winter humanitarian responses.”

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But the UN insists Israel is in breach of international humanitarian law and has the responsibility as the occupying force to ensure the safe distribution and coordination of life-saving aid.

What does the Israeli military say?

An Israeli military official told Sky News that aid was stopped from Jordan after the main border crossing with Israel was closed following an attack there in September, which saw a Jordanian truck driver kill two Israeli soldiers.

Although both Jordanian officials and UN figures in the country say hardly any aid – a “negligible” amount – was allowed into Gaza from Jordan many months before this, dating back to March.

The Israeli military official said the crossing will not be opened until an investigation is concluded into the incident. They pointed out that there are other routes for aid to enter Gaza along the Egypt border, and hundreds of trucks enter the strip every day under the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement.

However, the UN and multiple aid organisations say this is a fraction of what is required to meet the huge need inside Gaza and there are thousands of trucks’ worth of aid also piled up and waiting to be allowed over from Egypt too.

Meanwhile, in the sprawling Muwasi tent camp in Gaza, winter’s first strong rainfall sent water cascading through the flimsy tents, which are now homes to tens of thousands of displaced families.

Residents tried to dig trenches to keep the water from flooding their tents, as intermittent rains that began on Friday poured through tears in tarpaulins and makeshift shelters.

‘Water puddles are inches high’

Assil Naggar said he “spent all (Friday) pushing water out of my tent”, adding his neighbours’ tents and belongings were wrecked.

“Water puddles are inches high, and there is no proper drainage,” he continued.

The UN said Muwasi was sheltering up to 425,000 displaced Palestinians earlier this year, the vast majority in makeshift temporary tents, after Israel’s war with Hamas displaced most of Gaza’s population of more than two million people.

The bulk of Gaza’s infrastructure is estimated to have been destroyed or badly damaged during the Israeli bombardment.

What’s the latest with the ceasefire?

The first stage of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which took effect on 10 October, is now nearing its end with Israeli forces pulling back to a ‘yellow line’ and Hamas releasing all living Israeli captives who were held in Gaza.

Hamas has yet to return the remains of three more hostages, which Israel is demanding before progressing to the second stage, which includes an international stabilisation force to oversee security in Gaza.

On Monday, the UN Security Council is expected to vote on a US proposal for a UN mandate for such a force despite opposition from Russia, China and some Arab countries.

The Israeli bombardment of Gaza has gone on for more than two years, killing nearly 70,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Palestinian territory’s ministry of health, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The Israeli military campaign came in response to attacks inside southern Israel by Hamas militants on October 7 2023, which saw 1,200 people killed and 251 taken hostage.