Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Shekh Hasina has dismissed the death sentence handed to her by a "rigged" tribunal established and presided over by an "unelected government with no democratic mandate".

Terming the verdict as "biased and politically motivated", Hasina in a statement on Monday said that in their "distasteful call for the death penalty, they reveal the brazen and murderous intent of extremist figures within the interim government" to remove Bangladesh's last elected prime minister, and to nullify the Awami League as a political force.

She said Bangladeshis toiling under the "chaotic, violent and socially-regressive administration" of Mohammad Yunus will not be fooled by "this attempt to short-change them of their democratic rights".

She said that the purpose of the ICT was "to scapegoat the Awami League and to distract the world's attention from the failings of Dr Yunus and his ministers".

Hasina, who is living in self-exile in India, said that under the Yunus regime, public services have fallen apart, police have retreated from the country's crime-ridden streets and judicial fairness has been subverted.

"Attacks on Awami League adherents go unpunished. Hindus and other religious minorities are assaulted, and women's rights suppressed", while Islamic extremists within the administration, including figures from Hizb-ut-Tahrir, seek to undermine Bangladesh's long tradition of secular governance.

"Journalists are locked up and menaced, economic growth has stalled, and Yunus has delayed elections and then banned the country's most longstanding party (the Awami League) from participating in those elections."

Hasina denied the ICT accusations.

"For the record, I wholly deny the accusations that have been made against me in the ICT. I mourn all of the deaths that occurred in July and August of last year, on both sides of the political divide. "

She denied having ever ordered the killing of protestors in July-August last year.

Hasina said she was given no fair chance to defend herself in court, nor even to have lawyers of her own choice represent her in absentia.

Slamming the so-called International Crimes Tribunal, she said: "Despite its name, there is nothing international about the ICT; nor is it in any way impartial."

She said its guilty verdict against her "was a foregone conclusion", adding that "no genuinely respected or professional jurist in the world would endorse the Bangladesh ICT".

"There is no other motive than the personal pursuit of revenge against a democratically elected government that upheld the nation's independence and sovereignty,".

She declared she is not afraid to face her accusers in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly.

"That is why I have repeatedly challenged the interim government to bring these charges before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague."

She accused the ICT of having exclusively prosecuted members of the Awami League, and done nothing to prosecute or even investigate perpetrators from the other parties of documented violence against religious minorities, indigenous people, journalists and others.

Hasina said hers was a democratically elected government, and accountable to the people, while Yunus came to power unconstitutionally, and with the support of extremist elements.

"Under his rule, every protest — from students, garment workers, doctors, nurses, and teachers to professionals — has been met with suppression, some of it brutal. Peaceful demonstrators have been shot and killed. Journalists who attempt to report these incidents face harassment and torture."

"After taking control, Yunus's forces carried out killings and attacks in Gopalganj, and even filed criminal cases against the wounded victims themselves — turning the persecuted into the accused. Across the country, homes, businesses, and properties belonging to hundreds of thousands of Awami League leaders and activists have been burned and destroyed," she said.

Hasina said that since July 15, 2024, those responsible for retaliatory attacks, burnings and lynchings, carried out on Yunus' orders as part of his meticulous plan to seize power, have been granted indemnity.

"Terrorists, extremists, and convicted killers have been released from prison, while the jails have been filled with Awami League leaders and activists," she charged.

On the charges of human rights abuses, Hasina said the incidents of July-August 2024 were a tragedy for Bangladesh and for many families who lost their loved ones.

She said "in taking the actions we did to try to stem the disorder, Bangladesh's political leaders acted in good faith and were trying to minimise the loss of life". "We lost control of the situation, but to characterize what happened as a premeditated assault on citizens is simply to misread the facts."

Hasina said that despite its lurid claims, the ICT's prosecutors produced no persuasive evidence to show that she had ordered the use of lethal force against the people.

She charged that transcripts and audio files cited as evidence are fragmentary and have been taken out of context. "The fact is that operational control rested with security forces on the ground, acting under established legal protocols."

"Between 6th and 14th July, students were permitted to protest freely. The government ensured their safety. Furthermore, I accepted all their demands. The situation worsened, however, from mid-July, with internet outages caused by protestors vandalizing critical communications infrastructure. During the chaos, police stations and other government buildings were burned down, weapons looted, and government buildings attacked.

"Faced with this violence, the government acted in accordance with domestic and international law to preserve order and the constitution, and to protect lives."

She said the ICT prosecutors have attempted to claim that the Awami League was responsible for burning down state buildings, "even though various student leaders have cheerfully and publicly admitted they were responsible for these acts of arson and sabotage".

She said the prosecutors repeatedly cited a United Nations report (UN) that is based on anonymous testimony from state employees under pressure to please the interim government. Many of these witnesses face misconduct charges of their own or have been coerced into providing false statements.

She pointed to "unresolved claims that provocateurs were involved in stirring up citizen violence at the outset of the unrest".

"Witness testimony and forensic evidence suggest these agitators were in possession of military-grade weapons and ammunition, including 7.62-calibre bullets, that they used to attack law enforcement personnel and other civilians, escalate violence and provoke public anger against the government".

She said the UN's much-quoted fatality estimate of 1,400 deaths is also disputed. Bangladesh's own Ministry of Health's has a verified count of 834 deaths. But only 614 families have received state assistance as families of martyrs.

Hasina said according to newspaper investigations, 52 of those individuals were not killed by gunfire — they died from illness, accidents, or other unrelated causes — and about 19 people reported dead were later found alive. "So the picture is confused, and the interim government has refused to provide clarity by publishing an official list of the dead."

"I reject the ICT's other allegations of human rights abuses as equally unevidenced. I am very proud of my government's record on human rights and development."

"We led Bangladesh to join the International Criminal Court in 2010, gave refuge to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fleeing persecution in Myanmar, expanded access to electricity and education, and presided over a 450% GDP growth over 15 years, lifting millions out of poverty. These achievements are a matter of historical record. They are not the acts of a leadership unconcerned by human rights.

"And Dr Yunus and his vengeful cronies can claim no achievements that are remotely comparable."