A Bangladesh tribunal sentenced Mahbubul Alam Hanif to death for six protest killings. The in-absentia ruling intensifies scrutiny over trials of former Awami League leaders.Image used for representational purposes onlyDhaka,Oct 29, 2026 17:00 ISTA special tribunal in Bangladesh on Thursday sentenced Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif to death for the killing of six people during the July Uprising, news agency Press Trust of India reported.The killings took place during the violent student-led protests of 2024, which led to the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government on August 5 that year and her departure for India.A three-member tribunal led by Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury, and comprising Justices Md Manjurul Bashid and Nur Mohammad Shahriar Kabir, delivered the verdict.“He will be hanged until death,” Chowdhury ruled after convicting Hanif of killing six people in the western district of Kushtia during the protests.
The tribunal also sentenced three other leaders of the Awami League's district unit to imprisonment until death on the same charges over their role in suppressing the protests. All four accused, including Hanif, are absconding.
The tribunal also ordered the confiscation of half of their property.Hanif is the 23rd leader of the now-disbanded Awami League to receive the death penalty since Hasina's ouster, according to PTI. All of them were tried in absentia.
Hasina was the first to be sentenced to death, along with former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, on November 17 last year.Dozens of other politicians and officials from the previous government have been sentenced to life imprisonment or other jail terms, while scores are facing trial in person or in absentia on various charges.Hasina and her party leaders have described the tribunal as a “kangaroo court”. International rights groups, including Amnesty International and the US-based Human Rights Watch, as well as prominent jurists, have questioned the fairness of the trials.The removal of the Awami League government led to the formation of an interim administration headed by Muhammad Yunus.Tribunal chief prosecutor Md Aminul Islam welcomed the verdict and described it as timely, PTI reported. “The tribunal delivered its verdict today after completing the trial in this crimes against humanity case.
Today's verdict is very timely. Paying tribute to the July martyrs, we welcome the verdict,” he said.The four convicts, who were represented by state-appointed lawyers, were sentenced over the killing of six people during the 2024 protests, with Hanif receiving the death penalty and the three others being jailed until death.With PTI Inputs- Ends