Close menu

Learning English from the News

Upper intermediate level

Death penalty for former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina

Episode 251119 / 19 Nov 2025

(Photo by Christopher Pike/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Download a free worksheet

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

The story

Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, has been sentenced to death by a court in Dhaka for crimes against humanity.

Last July she ordered a crackdown on student protests which resulted in the deaths of up to 1,400 people, according to the UN.

As a result of the protests, Hasina escaped to India, where she still is. An interim government took power in Bangladesh.

Hasina had also been accused of a number of human rights violations while she was in power.

News headlines

Ousted Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death for crimes against humanity
The Guardian

'Unelected, Illegal Regime's Sham Of A Verdict': Sheikh Hasina's Son To NDTV
NDTV

Bangladesh signals that no leader is above the law by sentencing Sheikh Hasina to death
The Conversation 

Key words and phrases

crimes against humanity
crimes committed against a large number of civilians

  • The United Nations investigated crimes against humanity committed in Rwanda during the 1990s.

sham
something false or fraudulent 

  • The board's statement is just a sham. None of it can be true.

above the law
too important or powerful to be affected by laws

  • The company CEO thought he'd never get caught for tax evasion, but no one's above the law.

Next 

Find all our news programmes.

Learn more about international law in this video explainer series. 

Practise your reading skills with The Reading Room. 

Learning English from the News dhihoo kanaa

Hojii manaa

PDF'dhaan gad-buusi
Download Audio

Podkaast

Learning English from the News