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The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for crimes against humanity due to her crackdown on student-led protests which led to her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against activists, 1,400 of whom were killed during the turmoil during 2024.

Legal proceedings were conducted while she was absent by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being the mastermind of hundreds of killings during the protests. The former leader rejected all charges, labeling the proceedings as "unfair and agenda-driven".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had called for strict sentences.

Answering the judgment in a five-page statement, Hasina said the capital punishment was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was content of her administration's performance on human rights.

"I do not fear to meet my challengers in a fair court where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security before the verdict on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina organizing a demonstration and cheering as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a recent spike in turmoil, with dozens of bombs exploded and coaches ignited in the time before the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, area law enforcement officer the authorities' representative informed media outlets.

The student-led uprising last year began with demands to abolish public sector reservation policies but transformed into a broader opposition campaign.

United Nations rights examiners stated in a document in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could represent "violations of human dignity".

The report documented the firing at close quarters of some protesters, the purposeful disabling of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of a call made by the former leader confirmed by media examinations in previous months implied she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the trial.

Prior to the ruling, family members of those fatally injured in the unrest informed media representatives they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

A family representative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for the former leader and associates who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and abused their power".

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

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

Following her removal, an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A national vote is set for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Awami League, the former ruling party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

She alerted during the past month that if the party's candidates were banned from standing in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the election.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. Authorities have sought her return but until now India has demonstrated no inclination to acquiesce.

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

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; which is why I am disheartened," he added.

The previous week, her legal team said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN highlighting major judicial fairness and due process issues at the ICT.

Hasina was tried in conjunction with her ex-interior minister and top law enforcement officer.

Although the punishment grants partial finality to kin of victims in the protests, it may do little to soothe the country's political divisions.

"The resentment towards Sheikh Hasina and the her political party has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed press agencies. "Neither she nor the party has said sorry or demonstrated contrition for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The activist stated "It makes it difficult for the faction to gain approval by a bulk of the population in this country."

The campaigner further stated that the sentence was not closure for the families of those who died and were wounded.

"We support multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are currently without limbs, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it particularly hard" for Awami League to become a standard element of Bangladeshi politics again.

This might transform if "there is some kind of apology and a disassociation with Hasina and the previous administration," he stated.