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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for atrocities over her crackdown on protests led by students which caused her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, with approximately 1,400 individuals died during the disturbances during 2024.

Legal proceedings were conducted in absentia by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being behind numerous deaths during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, describing the process as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The decision signifies a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Next of kin of victims and injured had demanded severe punishments.

Answering the judgment in a detailed document, the former leader stated the capital punishment was the caretaker administration'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 meet my challengers in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under increased safeguards before the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors holding a protest and cheering as the judgment was announced.

Dhaka experienced a sudden increase in turmoil, with dozens of bombs exploded and coaches ignited in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official Jisanul Haque stated to media outlets.

The youth-driven revolt in the previous year began with requests to remove government job quotas but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

International human rights monitors declared in an analysis in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could represent "crimes against humanity".

The study recorded the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the purposeful disabling of others, unjustified apprehensions and abuse.

Leaked audio of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by external reviews during the current year indicated she had authorized 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 killed during the protests told press outlets they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

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

Another relative, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "implemented before the election".

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

After her departure, an caretaker administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A national vote is set for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Awami League, the former ruling party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

Hasina warned during the past month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, numerous would avoid the ballot.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but to date India has shown no willingness to acquiesce.

The legal representative assigned to her Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "sad [and wishes] the verdict had been different".

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; that's why I am disappointed," he added.

Last week, Hasina's lawyers said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN highlighting major judicial fairness and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Hasina was tried together with her ex-interior minister and security forces head.

While the sentence provides certain resolution to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the country's political divisions.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the Awami League has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has expressed regret or displayed repentance 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 country."

The activist added that the punishment was not closure for the kin of those who died and were wounded.

"We work with multiple individuals who suffered permanent amputations, they are amputees now, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

A journalist, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it increasingly challenging" for Awami League to become a regular participant of Bangladeshi politics again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with Hasina and the old leadership," he stated.