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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been given a death sentence for crimes against humanity due to her harsh response on student-led protests which led to her ousting.

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against activists, among whom around 1,400 people lost their lives during the unrest in the previous year.

Legal proceedings were conducted in absentia by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. She has refuted every accusation, labeling the proceedings as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had called for tough penalties.

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, the former leader stated the capital punishment was the interim government's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was satisfied of her administration's performance on individual freedoms.

"I have no trepidation to confront those accusing me in a proper tribunal where the facts can be assessed and reviewed impartially."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security ahead of the decision on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina holding a protest and applauding as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a recent spike in disturbances, with dozens of bombs exploded and buses set on fire in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, area law enforcement officer Jisanul Haque informed media outlets.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 began with demands to abolish government job quotas but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

International human rights monitors stated in a document in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could represent "crimes against humanity".

The paper detailed the firing at close quarters of certain demonstrators, the intentional injuring of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and abuse.

Disclosed sound files of a telephone conversation involving Hasina confirmed by external reviews during the current year implied she had sanctioned the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the trial.

Before the decision, kin of those fatally injured in the unrest told news agencies they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

One relative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "engaged in retaliatory actions 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 "executed before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

Following her removal, an temporary leadership under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A national vote is scheduled for February 2026.

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

She alerted last month that if the the League's representatives were banned from standing in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the election.

This decision presents a international dilemma for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her return but so far India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the outcome had varied".

"I am unable to challenge because my defendants are not present; that's why I am disheartened," he continued.

The previous week, her legal team said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN raising major judicial fairness and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Hasina was tried together with her ex-interior minister and police chief.

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

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not subsided," a Dhaka-based rights activist stated to news organizations. "Neither she nor the party has expressed regret or shown any remorse for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "This creates challenges for the faction to gain approval by a majority of people in this nation."

The campaigner further stated that the penalty was not finality for the families of those killed and injured.

"We assist several people who lost their limbs forever, they are currently without limbs, as a result of the harsh measures. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it even more difficult" for Awami League to become a standard element of Bangladeshi politics again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with the former leader and the previous administration," he stated.