Defiant ousted Bangladesh leader Hasina refuses to apologise for protester deaths
In a rare interview, former
authoritarian leader Sheikh Hasina tells The Independent she is not to blame
for bloodshed during her ousting, and calls her trial in absentia a ‘sham’
Former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina has
refused to apologise for the deadly crackdown on street protests that
ultimately led to her downfall last year, as part of a rare and wide-reaching
interview with The Independent.
Prosecutors in Bangladesh are
seeking the death penalty for
Hasina, accusing her of crimes against
humanity by ordering the use of lethal force against student
protesters, resulting in up to 1,400 deaths.
Hasina, who
ruled with an iron fist for over 15 years, is now living in exile in India.
Asked if she would apologise to the families of protesters killed last year,
she said she “mourns each and every child, sibling, cousin and friend we lost
as a nation” and would “continue to offer my condolences”.
But she rejects the allegation
that she ordered police to shoot demonstrators, and says her Awami League party
is being unfairly denied the opportunity to contest new elections in Bangladesh by
the unelected interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
Hasina, who ruled with an iron fist for over 15 years, is now
living in exile in India. Asked if she would apologise to the families of
protesters killed last year, she said she “mourns each and every child,
sibling, cousin and friend we lost as a nation” and would “continue to offer my
condolences”.
But she rejects the allegation
that she ordered police to shoot demonstrators, and says her Awami League party
is being unfairly denied the opportunity to contest new elections in Bangladesh by
the unelected interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
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