Students and general public have gathered at Dhaka University’s TSC to watch the live broadcast of the first verdict in the trial of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who stands accused of genocide and crimes against humanity.

The Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) arranged the public screening, where hundreds assembled as the three-member International Crimes Tribunal-1 bench, led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Majumder, began reading the judgment at around 12:30pm on Monday.

Chief prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam, a Supreme Court lawyer, along with other officials concerned with the case, was present in the tribunal during the proceedings.

The other members of the bench are Justice Md Shafiul Alam Mahmud and retired District and Sessions Judge Md Mohitul Haque Enam Chowdhury.

The verdict concerns allegations of crimes against humanity against ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun.

At the TSC gathering, Dhaka University student Minhaj Uddin said many were waiting in anticipation. “We are eagerly waiting to hear the news of Sheikh Hasina’s death sentence. Fascist Hasina indiscriminately killed thousands of our brothers in the July movement.

The democracy-loving people of Bangladesh are waiting to hear the verdict for those murders,” he said.