Reacting to the death sentence granted to ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in ‘crimes against humanity’ case by a tribunal court, China said said that it was Dhaka’s “internal affair” and declined to any further comment on the matter.
Sheikh Hasina was on Monday awarded death sentence by a Bangladeshi tribunal which convicted her of crimes against humanity during the crackdown on student-led protests last year.
“It is Bangladesh’s internal affair,” PTI news agency quoted Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning as saying during a media briefing in Beijing when asked about the verdict.
She also said that that China sincerely hopes that “Bangladesh will achieve solidarity, stability, and development” and that China is committed to a policy of good neighbourliness and friendship towards all people of Bangladesh, reported PTI.
Sheikh Hasina death sentence
Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to death on Monday after a tribunal court found her guilty of committing “crimes against humanity” during the student uprising of 2024. She was tried in abstention as she fled to India after being ousted and has been living here since.
Along with Sheikh Hasina, her co-accused and Bangladesh’s former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal was also given the death sentence. However her other co-accused, former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, was given a lenient sentence of five years in prison. He was awarded a lenient sentence as he cooperated with the investigation after pleading guilty in July. He was also the only accused present in the court when the verdict was being announced.
According to the UN rights, around 1,400 people were killed between July 15 and August 15 last year during the student-led uprising agaisnt Sheikh Hasina-led government.
How UN reacted to Sheikh Hasina’s death sentence
After Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to death, the United Nations said that while it is an “important moment” for the victims of 2024 Bangladesh violence, the imposition of death penalty was regrettable.
During the daily press briefing on Monday, UN chief’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres “fully” agrees with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on the position that “we stand against the use of the death penalty in all circumstances”.
China on Tuesday said the death sentence handed down to deposed Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina is an “internal affair” of Dhaka, as it declined to offer any further comment on the development.
Hasina, 78, was on Monday sentenced to death in absentia by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) for “crimes against humanity” over her government’s brutal crackdown on student-led protests last year. It also handed the death sentence to former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on similar charges.
“It is Bangladesh’s internal affair,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a media briefing here when asked about the verdict.
Mao said China is committed to a policy of good neighbourliness and friendship towards all people of Bangladesh.
“We sincerely hope that Bangladesh will achieve solidarity, stability, and development,” she said.
Hasina has been living in India since she fled Bangladesh on August 5 last year in the face of the massive protests.
