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The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity due to her harsh response on protests led by students which caused her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of authorizing deadly measures to be used against activists, with approximately 1,400 individuals were killed during the turmoil in the previous year.

Legal proceedings were conducted in absentia by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. The former leader rejected every accusation, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over long-standing suppression. Families of those killed and harmed had demanded tough penalties.

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

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a fair court where the evidence can be weighed and reviewed impartially."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under enhanced protection before the decision on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina holding a protest and applauding as the verdict was read.

The capital witnessed a notable rise in turmoil, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the time before the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, regional security representative the authorities' representative stated to media outlets.

The protest movement led by students last year started with calls to eliminate state employment quotas but morphed into a broader opposition campaign.

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

The study recorded the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of further participants, unwarranted detentions and abuse.

Leaked audio of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by external reviews during the current year implied she had authorized the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the trial.

Ahead of the verdict, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations informed press outlets they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

One relative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for the former leader and associates who have "performed revengeful deeds and abused their power".

A different family member, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "implemented before the election".

"Solely at that point the kin of victims [in the protests] will obtain solace in their souls."

Following her removal, an interim government led by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A parliamentary election is planned for February 2026.

However, the Hasina's political party, the former ruling party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

The former leader cautioned last month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the imminent electoral process, numerous would avoid the election.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but so far India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

Her officially designated attorney her legal counsel said he was "unhappy and desiring the outcome had varied".

"I cannot even contest because my clients are absent; for that reason I am disappointed," he stated further.

Last week, the defense attorneys said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN highlighting significant due process and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina together with her ex-interior minister and security forces head.

Although the punishment offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may do little to soothe the nation's partisan rifts.

"The anger against Sheikh Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not decreased," a human rights advocate from the capital informed media outlets. "The leader and her faction has said sorry or shown any remorse for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The advocate declared "This creates challenges for the party to be accepted by a bulk of the population in this nation."

The advocate continued that the sentence was not resolution for the relatives of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We support numerous persons who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, because of the suppression. They are incapable of excusing her."

A journalist, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it particularly hard" for the political faction to become a standard element of the country's governance system again.

This may change if "there is some kind of apology and a distancing from the former leader and the former hierarchy," he expressed.