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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for atrocities stemming from her severe measures on student-led protests which led to her ousting.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom lost their lives during the unrest in the previous year.

Hasina was tried in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being the mastermind of hundreds of killings during the protests. She has refuted the entire case, labeling the proceedings as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The verdict marks a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over years of repression. Next of kin of victims and injured had demanded tough penalties.

Answering the judgment in a five-page statement, Hasina said the capital punishment was the interim government's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was content of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I do not fear to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under tightened security prior to the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and applauding as the sentence was declared.

Dhaka experienced a sudden increase in disturbances, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the time before the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official the authorities' representative stated to media outlets.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 commenced through calls to eliminate government job quotas but evolved into a more extensive dissent initiative.

United Nations rights examiners said in a report in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could represent "crimes against humanity".

The paper detailed the firing at close quarters of some protesters, the intentional injuring of additional individuals, unwarranted detentions and torture.

Disclosed sound files of a call made by the former leader confirmed by external reviews during the current year indicated she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the proceedings.

Before the decision, family members of those who died in the demonstrations informed press outlets they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

One relative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for her and co-accused who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and exploited their positions".

A different family member, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "executed before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the kin of victims [in the protests] will find peace in their minds."

Since Hasina's ousting, an temporary leadership led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A parliamentary election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the her former political organization, her political faction, was prohibited by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

She alerted during the past month that if the the League's representatives were barred from participating in the imminent electoral process, numerous would avoid the ballot.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. Dhaka has formally requested her repatriation but until now India has demonstrated no inclination to comply.

The legal representative assigned to her Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "disappointed and hoping the verdict had been different".

"I cannot even contest because my defendants are not present; that's why I am sad," he stated further.

Recently, Hasina's lawyers said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN highlighting significant due process and due process issues at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial alongside her ex-interior minister and police chief.

While the sentence grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may not significantly ease the nation's partisan rifts.

"The anger against the former leader and the Awami League has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told news organizations. "Neither she nor the party has apologised or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

The advocate declared "This creates challenges for the organization to receive endorsement by a most citizens in this country."

The campaigner further stated that the sentence was not finality for the kin of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We assist numerous persons who lost their limbs forever, they are currently without limbs, due to the crackdown. They cannot pardon her."

A journalist, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it even more difficult" for the political faction to become a normal feature of the country's governance system again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the previous administration," he stated.