Before ICT Ruling, Sheikh Hasina Claims Yunus Faces ‘Fabricated’ Cases

With the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) hours away from announcing its verdict, Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina launched a scathing attack on the proceedings, calling the case against her “entirely illegal” and driven by political vendetta.

Speaking virtually from India, Hasina alleged that Interim Prime Minister Muhammad Yunus and his allies had engineered false charges to “punish” her. She, along with former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, faces accusations of murder, attempted murder, torture and other atrocities linked to the 2024 quota protests.

Calls for Lockdown, Accuses Rivals of Violence
Hasina urged Awami League supporters to enforce a nationwide lockdown, claiming they were facing a campaign of intimidation. She accused Yunus’s supporters of killing civilians and burning people alive during last year’s unrest, calling it an unprecedented attack on ordinary citizens.

She contrasted her tenure—where, she said, laws were strengthened to prosecute wartime atrocities—with the current administration, claiming that “criminals have become the heroes of July.”

Says Her Ouster Was a “Coordinated Plot”
Hasina insisted she was removed by a coordinated attempt to destabilise her government, not by political decline. She said armed groups hijacked student protests, pointing to “military-grade weapons in civilian hands” and arson against state institutions. Remaining in Dhaka, she claimed, would have caused a “bloodbath.”

Hasina, who fled to India on August 5, 2024, hinted at a possible political return but said she would only consider it if Bangladesh held “free, fair and participatory elections.”

Slams Yunus Government As Illegitimate
She labelled the Yunus-led interim setup as unelected and unconstitutional, accusing it of enabling minority attacks, releasing individuals linked to extremist groups and pushing the country toward instability. She said democratic rights must be restored for peace to return.

From India, Hasina also criticised the interim government’s outreach to Pakistan, calling it a “desperate bid for validation” and accusing Yunus of trying to “rewrite history” despite Islamabad’s failure to apologise for 1971.

Dhaka on High Alert
Authorities in Bangladesh have tightened security across Dhaka and other regions following arson incidents and crude bomb explosions. Public tension is running high as the country awaits a verdict that could reshape its political landscape once again.