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The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity stemming from her severe measures on student-led protests which caused her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against activists, 1,400 of whom were killed during the unrest during 2024.

The trial proceeded while she was absent by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

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

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over years of repression. Families of those killed and injured had demanded tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, she expressed the death penalty was the interim government's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was content of her government's record on individual freedoms.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the facts can be assessed and reviewed impartially."

The capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards prior to the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors organizing a demonstration and cheering as the judgment was announced.

Dhaka experienced a sudden increase in turmoil, with dozens of bombs exploded and public transport vehicles burned in the days leading up to the verdict.

One explosive incident was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official the authorities' representative told media outlets.

The protest movement led by students in the previous year started with calls to eliminate government job quotas but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

International human rights monitors declared in an analysis in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could constitute "human rights atrocities".

The paper detailed the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of others, arbitrary arrests and abuse.

Unauthorized recordings of a call made by the former leader verified by media examinations earlier this year suggested she had authorized the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the proceedings.

Ahead of the verdict, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations informed news agencies they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

One relative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates 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 Hasina's sentence to be "executed before the election".

"Solely at that point the families of those killed [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

After her departure, an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Awami League, Hasina's political party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

She alerted last month that if the her faction's nominees were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, numerous would avoid the vote.

The verdict now poses a international dilemma for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but so far India has shown no willingness to agree.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer her legal counsel said he was "disappointed and hoping the decision had been otherwise".

"I am unable to challenge because my defendants are not present; for that reason I am disheartened," he added.

Last week, her legal team said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN raising major judicial fairness and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial alongside her previous domestic affairs official and police chief.

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may not significantly ease the country's political divisions.

"The anger against Sheikh Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not diminished," a human rights advocate from the capital informed news organizations. "Both she and the organization has apologised or shown any remorse for the deaths of numerous individuals."

She said "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a bulk of the population in this nation."

The advocate continued that the punishment was not resolution for the families of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We support multiple individuals who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, due to the crackdown. They are incapable of excusing her."

An analyst, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it even more difficult" for the political faction to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the old leadership," he expressed.