Will Sheikh Hasina’s death sentence deepen Bangladesh's political divide?
The Take
Al Jazeera
4.7 • 748 Ratings
🗓️ 18 November 2025
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal has sentenced ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death for crimes against humanity committed during a violent crackdown in 2024. Amid an unstable political landscape, will Hasina’s sentencing be a step forward for Bangladesh, or will it spark more unrest in the country?
In this episode:
- Ahmede Hussain, Editor, The Deltagram
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Marcos Bartolomé, Farhan Rafid and Tracie Hunte with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Diana Ferrero, Fatima Shafiq, Sarí el-Khalili, and our host, Manuel Rápalo. It was edited by Noor Wazwaz and Kylene Kiang.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad Al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.
Connect with us:
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Al Jazeera Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | Today, ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death in Bangladesh. |
| 0:17.0 | We have decided to inflict her with only one sentence that is sentence of death. |
| 0:24.6 | Is this a landmark step toward accountability or a death sentence that will deepen Bangladesh's political divide? |
| 0:35.6 | I'm Manuel Rapalo and this is the take. Bangladesh's political divide. |
| 0:40.3 | I'm Manuel Rappalo, and this is the take. |
| 0:50.3 | Before we continue with today's show, |
| 0:54.1 | remember to leave us a comment telling us what you think about today's episode and what |
| 0:54.7 | stories you want us to do next. Or on your podcast app, leave us a review telling us where you're |
| 1:00.0 | listening from. And give us a five-star rating while you're there. It helps the show. |
| 1:07.4 | My name is Ahmed Usain. I'm a journalist and I'm the editor of the Deltagram, which is the deltagram.com. |
| 1:13.6 | So, Ahmed, welcome to the take. |
| 1:15.7 | Monday marked a pivotal moment for Bangladesh with a verdict issued against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. |
| 1:22.8 | She's been living in exile in India since being forced from power in 2024 and has been sentenced to death |
| 1:31.0 | in absentia. Walk us through the trial, if you would. Before I start, I have to tell you that I have |
| 1:38.1 | a small problem with calling her the former prime Minister. |
| 1:51.1 | It's because she headed a kleptocratic regime that has been accused of enforced disappearances, killing people, abducting people. |
| 1:54.0 | She killed literally 1,400 people in a span of 20 days. |
| 1:59.6 | She is just a former dictator, a deposed dictator. |
| 2:04.2 | Throughout my life, I actually have always been against death penalty. |
| 2:08.3 | I thought that it's really unfair and you cannot actually, |
| 2:11.5 | you cannot be always right about people. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Al Jazeera, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Al Jazeera and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.