Bangladesh braces for disruptions as former ruling party calls for lockdown to protest Hasina trial

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Classes and transportation in Bangladesh were seriously disrupted Thursday as ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her former ruling Awami League party called for a nationwide “lockdown” in protest against her trial over last year’s protests that left hundreds dead.

Hasina faces charges of crimes against humanity involving a crackdown on the student-led uprising that ended her 15-year rule in August 2024. She has been in exile in India since then and has not been seen in public or online.

A special tribunal in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, is expected to announce a verdict against Hasina on Monday, chief prosecutor Tajul Islam said during a news conference Thursday.

Hasina’s now-banned Awami League party urged its supporters and others to protest while the government and opposition to Hasina vowed to stop them.

Schools in Dhaka and major cities across Bangladesh switched to online classes and examinations while public transportation was severely disrupted Thursday as the government heightened security across the country.

Dhaka has suffered incidents of vandalism this week as usually clogged streets remained mostly empty Thursday.

A fire bomb was thrown at a government office in Gopalganj district, which is Hasina’s ancestral home and a stronghold for her party. An office of Grameen Bank, a small loan institution founded by Bangladesh’s current interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, was torched Wednesday in eastern Bangladesh, local media reported.

Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate along with Grameen Bank, said in a televised address Thursday that his administration would hold a referendum on a national charter, which was signed last month by political parties, on the day of the next election in February. The date has not yet been announced.

The referendum, Yunus said, would propose a two-tier parliament in line with the “July National Charter” adopted by the interim government that he took over three days after Hasina’s fall on Aug. 5, 2024.

Yunus also repeated his pledge to punish Hasina.

Explosions of crude bombs and torched vehicles were reported over the past three days in Dhaka and elsewhere, indicating that political chaos will continue in the country, which has a history of political violence.

On Wednesday evening, arson was reported on a train and a bus in Dhaka, and crude bombs went off earlier in the day on the Dhaka University campus.

On Thursday morning, soldiers along with other security agencies were deployed to guard the premises of the special tribunal, which is overseeing a case involving former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and former Police Chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun.

Al-Mamun is an “approver” in the case, meaning he pleaded guilty and became a state witness against Hasina. Al-Mamun was brought to the tribunal with tight security Thursday while Khan is believed to be in India. Both Hasina and Khan are being tried in absentia. The prosecution has not sought any punishment for Al-Mamun.

Hasina was ousted after weeks of violence that left hundreds dead. The interim government pledged parliamentary elections would be held in February, but Hasina’s Awami League has launched a campaign, mainly on social media, decrying the election if the party is not allowed to participate. The party says thousands of its supporters have been arrested across the country.

Islam, the chief prosecutor, sought the death penalty for Hasina last month, calling her the “mastermind and principal architect” behind crimes against humanity committed during the uprising.

The Awami League has called the tribunal a “kangaroo court.” Hasina has not appointed a lawyer and denounced the appointment of a lawyer by the state to represent her.

Up to 1,400 people may have been killed in the violence, according to a United Nations report in February. The country’s health adviser under the interim government said more than 800 people were killed and about 14,000 were injured.

Hasina disputed the figures and demanded an independent investigation.

Many Indian outlets published interviews with Hasina in recent weeks, all conduced via email. The interviews apparently irked Bangladesh’s current government. Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner in Dhaka Pawan Badhe to formally convey its concerns over India allowing “fugitive” Hasina to interact with mainstream Indian media.

Hasina in her interviews accused Yunus of backing Islamists and violating human and political rights, especially of supporters of her banned party. Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that only an inclusive election could stabilize the country.