Dhaka, October 29, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on Thursday sentenced Mahbubul Alam Hanif, Joint General Secretary of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League, to death for crimes against humanity linked to the July 2024 mass uprising, according to local media reports.
The tribunal also sentenced three other Awami League leaders — Sadar Uddin Khan, Azgar Ali and Ataur Rahman Ata — to life imprisonment in the case.
A three-member bench led by tribunal Chairman Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury delivered the verdict.
Hanif was convicted on counts 1 to 6 of the first charge and sentenced to death. He was also sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour after being found guilty of the second and third charges.
The other three accused were found guilty on counts 1 to 6 of the first charge and sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour. All four defendants remain in hiding, the Bangladeshi daily Dhaka Tribune reported.
The latest verdict comes amid an intensifying crackdown on Awami League leaders, with several senior party figures facing death sentences in cases linked to the July 2024 mass uprising.
Last month, the ICT sentenced Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader and six other senior leaders of the party and its affiliated organisations to death for “crimes against humanity” in connection with the uprising.
Following that verdict, the Awami League categorically rejected the death sentences imposed on seven party leaders and activists, describing the ruling as “one-sided, biased and fabricated”.
The party alleged that the “so-called verdict” was the latest instance of the “weaponisation of judiciary” to eliminate political dissenters.
Pointing out that none of the individuals against whom the verdict was pronounced had been present before the tribunal, the party said, “A fundamental standard of international criminal law is that even in trials conducted in absentia, minimum legal protections — including the right of the accused to choose counsel of their own liking — must be guaranteed. However, these guarantees have been completely ignored in the present tribunal.”
According to the Awami League, the judicial process had been rushed through in “utter disregard” for the fundamental and universally recognised principles of international human rights law and international criminal law. The party argued that the proceedings were promoting a “culture of impunity and political vengeance” instead of upholding the rule of law.
It further stated that not only the latest verdict but all ICT activities since August 5, 2024, constituted gross violations of international law and human rights.
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