Sheikh Hasina faces ICT trial as she prepares to return to Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s former prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been named in the International Crimes Tribunal’s investigation of the 2013 Shapla Square crackdown, which targeted activists of the Islamist group Hefazat-e‑Islam. The ICT’s draft report identifies Hasina as the principal accused, alleging that the security operation was planned and carried out through a chain of command reaching the highest levels of state authority.

Despite the looming possibility of arrest or even execution, Hasina told Reuters from her exile home in Delhi that she will return to Bangladesh in December and appear before the court. She said she is prepared to face any outcome on her own soil, recalling the 1975 assassination of her father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and her history of returning to Bangladesh despite personal risk.