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The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for human rights violations stemming from her crackdown on youth demonstrations which resulted in her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people died during the turmoil last year.

The trial proceeded without her presence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India following her ouster in July 2024.

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

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had called for tough penalties.

Responding to the decision in a detailed document, the former leader stated the capital punishment was the temporary leadership's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was proud of her government's record on human rights.

"I have no trepidation to meet my challengers in a just legal forum where the facts can be assessed and reviewed impartially."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under tightened security ahead of the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and cheering as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in disturbances, with multiple explosives detonated and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official the authorities' representative informed media outlets.

The protest movement led by students last year commenced through requests to remove government job quotas but transformed into a broader opposition campaign.

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

The paper detailed the firing at close quarters of certain demonstrators, the intentional injuring of others, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina verified by investigative sources earlier this year implied she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

Prior to the ruling, relatives of those fatally injured in the unrest informed press outlets they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

One relative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for Hasina and others who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

Another relative, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "executed before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the kin of victims [in the protests] will find peace in their souls."

After her departure, an caretaker administration led by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

However, the her former political organization, the former ruling party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

Hasina warned during the past month that if the party's candidates were banned from standing in the upcoming election, millions would boycott the vote.

The verdict now poses a diplomatic challenge for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but so far India has shown no willingness to acquiesce.

The legal representative assigned to her her legal counsel said he was "unhappy and desiring the decision had been otherwise".

"I cannot even contest because my represented individuals are away; which is why I am sad," he continued.

Last week, Hasina's lawyers said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising major judicial fairness and due process issues at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her previous domestic affairs official and security forces head.

Although the punishment grants partial finality to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The anger against Hasina and the Awami League has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed media outlets. "Both she and the organization has expressed regret or demonstrated contrition for the deaths of numerous individuals."

She said "This complicates matters for the faction to gain approval by a most citizens in this state."

The campaigner further stated that the penalty was not resolution for the relatives of those who died and were wounded.

"We work with several people who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

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

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