A special tribunal in Bangladesh will deliver its ruling in the case against ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and two of her top aides on 17 November.
Ms Hasina, who ruled the South Asian country with an iron fist for 15 years, is charged with committing crimes against humanity for overseeing a deadly police crackdown on protesters who nevertheless succeeded in overthrowing her.
The UN estimates up to 1,400 people were killed in the protests between July and August last year.
Former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun are also on trial for their alleged role in the crackdown. Al-Mamun pleaded guilty after his arrest last year and became a state witness.
After protesters stormed her residence in early August last year, Ms Hasina fled by helicopter to India, a key ally of her government. She has not been seen in public or online since.
Chief prosecutor Tajul Islam demanded the death penalty for Ms Hasina last month, calling her the “mastermind and principal architect” of the supposed crimes against humanity committed during the uprising against her.
Ms Hasina's Awami League party, banned by the country’s interim rulers, had urged its supporters and others to protest on Thursday while the government and opposition to the former leader had vowed to stop them.
Schools in Dhaka and several major cities switched to online classes and examinations while public transportation was severely disrupted as security was heightened across the country for the protest.
In the run-up to Thursday’s protest, Bangladesh had witnessed a spate of crude bombings and arson attacks.
A fire bomb was thrown at a government office in Gopalganj, Ms Hasina's home district and a stronghold for her party, while arsonists torched an office of Grameen Bank, founded by interim leader Muhammad Yunus, in the country’s east on Wednesday.
There were reports of arson on a train and a bus in the capital on Wednesday evening, barely hours after crude bombs had gone off on the Dhaka University campus.
Mr Yunus said in a televised address on Thursday that his administration would hold a referendum on a national charter, which was signed last month by political parties, on the day of the next election in February.
The referendum, he said, would propose a two-tier parliament in line with the “July National Charter” adopted by the interim government that he took over three days after Ms Hasina's fall on 5 August 2024.
“We have decided that the referendum will be held on the same day as the national parliamentary election, meaning in the first half of February. This will not hinder the reform process. Rather, it will make the election more festive and cost-efficient.”
The charter aims to reshape the South Asian nation’s politics and institutions and give constitutional recognition to the 2024 uprising against Ms Hasina.
It also proposes giving greater representation to women, limiting the prime minister's term, strengthening presidential powers, expanding fundamental rights, and ensuring judicial independence.
A majority of political parties signed the charter in October but the National Citizens Party, formed by leaders of last year's protest movement and four left-leaning parties, boycotted it.
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