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A Bangladesh tribunal sentenced Hasanul Haque Inu to 10 years in prison over 2024 protest violence. The ruling deepens post-uprising accountability battles as both sides prepare appeals.
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Dhaka,UPDATED: Jun 30, 2026 17:28 IST
A Bangladeshi tribunal on Tuesday sentenced Hasanul Haque Inu, an ally of deposed former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, to 10 years in prison after convicting him of crimes against humanity linked to the 2024 street protests. The verdict was delivered by Bangladesh's Crimes Tribunal as Inu appeared before the court in person on eight separate charges.
Inu, a left-leaning politician and president of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, had served as a minister in Hasina's coalition government from 2012 to 2018, though he had no links to the regime after that. He was accused of ordering police to kill six people in his home district of Kushtia during the 2024 uprising, inciting attacks on protesters and staying in telephonic contact with Hasina, who fled to India in August 2024.
The tribunal's three-judge bench pronounced the verdict after police brought Inu from jail under heavy security. The charges against him also included incitement to use deadly force against protesters and direct involvement in decisions on military deployment, curfew and shoot-on-sight orders.
Reacting to the ruling, ICT-BD Chief Prosecutor Aminul Islam said, "We are totally dissatisfied with the verdict. We think he deserved capital punishment. Definitely we will appeal against the judgment (in the Supreme Court)." Inu's lawyer Sifat Mahmud said his client was "dragged" into the case because of political rivalry. He also said the investigating officer admitted during cross-examination that he had no knowledge of the alleged six killings in Kushtia, which formed one of the charges.
The verdict came two days after the tribunal sentenced three police officers, including former Dhaka police chief in absentia, to death in a separate case linked to the 2024 protests. A UN human rights office report estimated that up to 1,400 people were killed during the student-led violent street protests in July and August 2024, known as the July Uprising, as Hasina's government ordered a security crackdown. The Muhammad Yunus-led interim government's later official count put the death toll at 864.
Hasina's government was toppled on August 5, 2024, and the interim government took charge on August 8. It disbanded Hasina's Awami League and put dozens of leaders and officials, including the former prime minister, on trial before the ICT-BD. In November 2025, the tribunal sentenced Hasina and her former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death in absentia in a case over the crackdown on protesters. The ICT-BD was set up in 2010 by the Hasina government to try collaborators of Pakistani troops during Bangladesh's 1971 Liberation War, and its law was later amended by the interim government to allow trials of Awami League leaders and officials on charges of crimes against humanity.
Tuesday's ruling against Inu adds to a series of tribunal cases stemming from the 2024 protests, with the court holding him guilty on charges tied to the crackdown while both the prosecution and the defence signalled further legal action over the judgment.
With PTI Inputs
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Published By:
India Today Web Desk
Published On:
Jun 30, 2026 17:28 IST
