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The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for crimes against humanity over her harsh response on protests led by students which led to her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people died during the disturbances during 2024.

Legal proceedings were conducted without her presence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being the mastermind of numerous deaths during the protests. She has refuted every accusation, calling the trial as "unfair and agenda-driven".

This judgment represents a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Families of those killed and wounded had requested strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, she expressed the execution sentence was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was satisfied of her administration's performance on civil liberties.

"I do not fear to face my accusers in a fair court where the facts can be assessed and reviewed impartially."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under increased safeguards prior to the verdict on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and applauding as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a recent spike in turmoil, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the period preceding the verdict.

One explosive incident was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, regional security representative Jisanul Haque told press agencies.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 started with requests to remove government job quotas but morphed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

United Nations rights examiners stated in a document in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could constitute "human rights atrocities".

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of further participants, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment.

Unauthorized recordings of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by investigative sources in previous months implied she had approved the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the legal process.

Ahead of the verdict, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations stated to media representatives they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

Ramjan Ali, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for her and co-accused who have "performed revengeful deeds and exploited their positions".

A different family member, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "executed before the election".

"Only then the families of those killed [in the protests] will achieve closure in their souls."

After her departure, an interim government headed by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A parliamentary election is planned for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Awami League, her political faction, was prohibited by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

Hasina warned last month that if the party's candidates were prohibited from running in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the election.

The verdict now poses a international dilemma for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but so far India has shown no willingness to comply.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer her legal counsel said he was "disappointed and hoping the decision had been otherwise".

"I am unable to challenge because my defendants are not present; for that reason I am sad," he stated further.

Recently, the defense attorneys said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN highlighting major judicial fairness and due process issues at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina alongside her ex-interior minister and top law enforcement officer.

Although the punishment provides certain resolution to families of killed in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the nation's partisan rifts.

"The anger against the former leader and the Awami League has not diminished," a human rights advocate from the capital told media outlets. "The leader and her faction has expressed regret 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 bulk of the population in this nation."

The activist added that the sentence was not finality for the families of those who died and were wounded.

"We work with several people who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it even more difficult" for Awami League to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This could alter if "an expression of regret occurs and a distancing from Hasina and the former hierarchy," he said.