A total of 673 lawsuits, including 457 on murder charges, have been filed against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted from power in the July mass uprising, according to police headquarters data.
She has been sentenced to death in one case involving crimes against humanity committed during the July uprising. Six more cases against her are pending trial at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT).
Reuters has reported that a letter has been sent to the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi seeking a new passport and national identity (NID) card for Sheikh Hasina, who has been staying in India since the mass uprising in August 2024.
Diplomatic sources informed Prothom Alo that the Bangladesh High Commission received an email regarding the passport and NID. However, the sources also said the email was not accompanied by an authorisation letter from Sheikh Hasina. Against this backdrop, the cases against her and her death sentence have come into renewed focus.
Following the fall of the government of Awami League (whose activities are currently banned in the country) in the mass uprising on 5 August 2024, the then interim government reconstituted the ICT. An arrest warrant was issued against Sheikh Hasina on 17 October 2024, the first day of proceedings at the reconstituted tribunal.
The verdict in that case was delivered on 17 November 2025. The International Crimes Tribunal-1 sentenced Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan to death for crimes against humanity, committed during the July mass uprising. Former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who turned approver, was sentenced to five years in prison.
Bangladesh Police has also applied for an Interpol Red Notice against Sheikh Hasina. In April 2025, the National Central Bureau (NCB) of Bangladesh Police submitted applications for Red Notices against 12 people, including Sheikh Hasina. However, no Red Notice has been issued.
On 27 August, incumbent Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed informed the Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) that a formal extradition request had been sent to India seeking Sheikh Hasina’s return. An application had also been submitted to Interpol for a Red Notice.
Hasina did not appeal
The full verdict in the case in which Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to death was published on 13 January. The International Crimes Tribunal Act allows 30 days to file an appeal. However, Sheikh Hasina did not appeal within the stipulated period. Tribunal sources said she was no longer eligible to appeal as the deadline had expired.
Alongside the death sentences, the tribunal ordered the confiscation of the properties owned by Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan in Bangladesh in favour of the state. It also ordered compensation for the families of those killed and those injured during the July mass uprising.
On 3 November, the Office of the Chief Prosecutor of the tribunal sent a letter to the home ministry to implement the confiscation order. It requested the preparation of a comprehensive list of the movable and immovable assets of the two convicts and their transfer to state control.
6 more crimes against humanity cases
Six more cases involving crimes against humanity against Sheikh Hasina are pending before the tribunal. Of these, two are at the witness examination stage and four are at the charge-framing stage. Arrest warrants have been issued against her in all six cases.
Sheikh Hasina and 16 others have been accused in a case over enforced disappearances at the Task Force for Interrogation (TFI) cell of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). Among the accused are 12 serving and former military officers.
In another case involving enforced disappearances at the Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC) of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), 13 people have been accused. Apart from Sheikh Hasina, the other 12 accused are serving and former military officers. Both cases are at the witness examination stage.
Sheikh Hasina and 40 others have been accused in a crimes against humanity case over killings surrounding a Hefazat-e-Islam rally at Shapla Chattar in Motijheel, Dhaka, on 5 May 2013.
In another case over the killing of former municipal councillor Ekramul Haque, reportedly in a gunfight in Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar on 26 May 2018, Sheikh Hasina and 10 others have been accused. Both cases are currently at the charge-framing stage.
Two other cases are at the hearing stage for charge framing before Tribunal-2.
One concerns the alleged killing of nine youths in Kalyanpur of Dhaka in 2016, in what prosecutors describe as a staged anti-militancy operation. Sheikh Hasina and seven others have been accused in the case.
In another case over the killing of seven people in a purported anti-militancy operation at Patartek in Gazipur, Sheikh Hasina and nine others have been accused.
International Crimes Tribunal prosecutor Mizanul Islam told Prothom Alo that an arrest warrant remained in force against Sheikh Hasina. It would be carried out if she returned to the country, he said.
She would also have to face trial in the cases pending against her before the tribunal, Mizanul Islam added.