Before Sheikh Hasina, Bhutto, Musharraf, and Saddam Faced Death Sentences

Before the recent verdict involving Sheikh Hasina, South Asia had already seen death sentences handed down to two former heads of government and state. Only one of those sentences was carried out. In the Middle East, the most prominent court-ordered execution of a former leader was that of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein.

Bhutto and Musharraf: Pakistan’s Two Former Leaders Sentenced to Death

In South Asia, the two former leaders who received death sentences prior to Sheikh Hasina were both from Pakistan — Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Pervez Musharraf. Their verdicts were delivered in cases involving political assassination and treason.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan’s prime minister from 1973 to 1977 and founder of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), was removed from power in 1977 through a military coup led by Army Chief General Zia-ul-Haq. Two years later, Pakistan’s Supreme Court sentenced him to death for allegedly being behind the killing of a political rival.

Bhutto was executed by hanging on 4 April 1979 in a Rawalpindi prison. General Zia remained in power until his death in a plane crash in August 1988.

Forty-four years after the execution, in March last year, Pakistan’s Supreme Court acknowledged that Bhutto had not received a fair trial. Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa stated that the requirements for due process and fair justice had not been met. Bhutto also served as Pakistan’s president from 1971 to 1973.

Pakistan witnessed another death sentence for a former head of state in December 2019. Former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was sentenced to death in a high treason case for imposing emergency rule and suspending the constitution in 2007.

Musharraf came to power in a 1999 military coup and served as president from 2001 to 2008. Facing widespread protests over the constitutional suspension, he resigned in 2008 to avoid impeachment. He later left the country for medical treatment in Dubai in 2016. He was still abroad when the death sentence was announced in 2019. Musharraf died in February 2023 due to illness.

Saddam Hussein Executed on Eid Day

On 30 December 2006 — the day of Eid-ul-Azha — Iraq executed former president Saddam Hussein by hanging after convicting him of crimes against humanity.

Saddam ruled Iraq from 1979 until he was ousted and later captured by U.S.-led coalition forces in 2003. He was accused of mass killings, including the 1982 Dujail massacre targeting Shia civilians and the 1988 Halabja chemical attack on Kurdish residents. He was also accused of using chemical weapons against Kurdish rebel areas.

Following the 9/11 attacks in the United States, the U.S. government accused Saddam of supporting terrorists and possessing weapons of mass destruction. In March 2003, President George W. Bush issued an ultimatum for Saddam to step down and leave Iraq. When he refused, the U.S. and its allies launched an invasion on 20 March. Saddam was captured in June 2004, his trial began in October 2005, and the verdict was delivered in November 2006 — followed by his execution shortly afterward.

Sources: Al Jazeera, BBC, CNN, Britannica