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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 forced departure.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of authorizing deadly measures to be used against activists, with approximately 1,400 individuals died during the unrest last year.

The trial proceeded in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) 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 numerous deaths during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, describing the process as "biased and politically motivated".

This judgment represents a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Relatives of the deceased and wounded had called for tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, the former leader stated the capital punishment was the caretaker administration'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 do not fear to meet my challengers in a proper tribunal where the facts can be assessed and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security before the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally and cheering as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in unrest, with multiple explosives detonated and public transport vehicles burned in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official Jisanul Haque told news organizations.

The protest movement led by students in the previous year began with demands to abolish state employment quotas but morphed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

United Nations rights examiners said in a report in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could represent "human rights atrocities".

The paper detailed the firing at close quarters of some protesters, the deliberate maiming of others, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Disclosed sound files of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by media examinations in previous months suggested she had sanctioned the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

Ahead of the verdict, kin of those fatally injured in the unrest told press outlets they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

A family representative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for her and co-accused who have "committed acts of vengeance 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 "executed before the election".

"Solely at that point the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will find peace in their souls."

Since Hasina's ousting, an temporary leadership led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A parliamentary election is set for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Hasina's political party, Hasina's political party, was banned by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

Hasina warned during the past month that if the party's candidates were barred from participating in the forthcoming vote, millions would boycott the ballot.

The verdict now poses a international dilemma for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her repatriation but to date India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

Her officially designated attorney her legal counsel said he was "sad [and wishes] the decision had been otherwise".

"I cannot even contest because my clients are absent; for that reason I am disappointed," he added.

The previous week, her legal team said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN pointing out serious fair trial and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Hasina was tried together with her former home minister and police chief.

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to families of killed in the protests, it may do little to soothe the country's political divisions.

"The resentment towards Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told news organizations. "Neither she nor the party has apologised or demonstrated contrition for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "This creates challenges for the faction to gain approval by a bulk of the population in this country."

The campaigner further stated that the sentence was not resolution for the relatives of those killed and injured.

"We assist several people who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, due to the crackdown. They will never be able to forgive her."

David Bergman, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it even more difficult" for the political faction to become a regular participant of the nation's political landscape again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the previous administration," he stated.