Harmony Foundation Calls for International Court of Justice’s Intervention in Sheikh Hasina’s Death Sentence

 Pune: The International Court of Justice at The Hague should urgently intervene suo moto to halt the death sentence announced by a radical special tribunal on November 17 in Dhaka against the former prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina over her government’s violent crackdown on student-led protests last year, said Dr Abraham Mathai, former vice chairman of Maharashtra State Minority Commission.

The United Nations estimates up to 1,400 people died in the student-led protests last year, most by gunfire from security forces.

Those individually responsible for such violations and allegations of crimes must be investigated and prosecuted in fair trials. However, this trial and sentence is neither fair nor just. The unprecedented speed of this trial in absentia and verdict raises significant fair trial concerns for a case of this scale and complexity, said Dr Mathai, also chairman of the Mumbai-based Harmony Foundation.

He emphasized that it would not be in the best interest of justice and international law to allow the verdict of a kangaroo court to prevail.

Speaking from exile in India, Hasina dismissed the judgement as "politically motivated".

“It is imperative that the International Court of Justice should take suo motu cognizance of this matter and intervene with immediate effect to ensure that the verdict of a kangaroo court of a regime that is proving to be a fertile ground of extremism and breeding terrorists should not be complied with,” Dr Mathai said in a statement.

“Mohammad Yunus, head of Bangladesh's interim government, who himself is a sympathizer of extremism and terrorism, whose regime has been targeting minority communities lately, should be shamed and embarrassed by the international community for betraying the very ideals of the Swedish Academy, which awarded him the Nobel Prize,” it said.

Dr Mathai said it is absurd that Muhammad Yunus, recently announced that it was going to grant Dr. Zakir Naik, a radical Islamist preacher a red-carpet welcome, yet the secular government of Sheikh Hasina banned Dr. Zakir Naik from Bangladesh after the 2016 Holey Artisan Bakery bomb blasts which were apparently instigated by his extremist teachings as per statements of all the accused.

Dr. Mathai questioned why the Nobel Prize selection committee remains silent about Muhammad Yunus’s actions, which he believes are contrary to the ethos of the award.

In fact, an aggressive campaign and petition demanding the withdrawal of the Nobel Peace Prize from Muhammad Yunus should be initiated, he noted.

Dr Mathai also urged the International Court of Justice, as a matter of fact, to approach the United Nations to impose sanctions on the regime of Mohammad Yunus until it withdraws the kangaroo court verdict.