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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for human rights violations over her crackdown on protests led by students which resulted in her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against activists, with approximately 1,400 individuals lost their lives during the disturbances in the previous year.

Legal proceedings were conducted without her presence by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. She has refuted every accusation, labeling the proceedings as "biased and politically motivated".

The verdict marks a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Relatives of the deceased and harmed had demanded strict sentences.

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, Hasina said the capital punishment was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was proud of her leadership's history on human rights.

"I have no trepidation to confront those accusing me in a just legal forum where the proof can be evaluated and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards ahead of the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics organizing a demonstration and cheering as the sentence was declared.

Dhaka experienced a sudden increase in unrest, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the period preceding the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, regional security representative the authorities' representative informed press agencies.

The protest movement led by students last year began with calls to eliminate government job quotas but transformed into a broader opposition campaign.

UN human rights investigators said in a report in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could amount to "human rights atrocities".

The paper detailed the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of others, unwarranted detentions and torture.

Leaked audio of a call made by the former leader authenticated by media examinations earlier this year indicated she had authorized the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the trial.

Before the decision, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations informed press outlets they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

Ramjan Ali, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "performed revengeful deeds and misused their authority".

Lucky Akther, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "implemented before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their hearts."

Since Hasina's ousting, an interim government under the guidance of economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A parliamentary election is planned for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Awami League, Hasina's political party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

She alerted in the previous month that if the party's candidates were banned from standing in the upcoming election, millions would boycott the election.

This decision presents a diplomatic challenge for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her return but to date India has shown no willingness to comply.

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

"I cannot even contest because my defendants are not present; that's why I am sad," he stated further.

Recently, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN highlighting serious fair trial and due process issues at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina together with her ex-interior minister and police chief.

Although the punishment provides certain resolution to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the state's ideological splits.

"The resentment towards the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed press agencies. "Neither she nor the party has said sorry or demonstrated contrition for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "This creates challenges for the party to be accepted by a bulk of the population in this state."

The activist added that the penalty was not closure for the kin of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We support numerous persons who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, as a result of the harsh measures. They will never be able to forgive her."

An analyst, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it particularly hard" for the political faction to become a standard element of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a separation from Sheikh Hasina and the former hierarchy," he said.