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The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for atrocities stemming from her crackdown on protests led by students which caused her forced departure.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the unrest in the previous year.

The trial proceeded in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being responsible for multiple fatalities during the protests. Hasina has denied every accusation, calling the trial as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and injured had demanded tough penalties.

Answering the judgment in a detailed document, Hasina said the capital punishment was the interim government's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was content of her leadership's history on human rights.

"I have no trepidation to confront those accusing me in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards prior to the decision on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina holding a protest and cheering as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in turmoil, with multiple explosives detonated and public transport vehicles burned in the time before the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official Jisanul Haque informed media outlets.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 commenced through requests to remove government job quotas but transformed into a wider anti-government movement.

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

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of certain demonstrators, the intentional injuring of others, unwarranted detentions and mistreatment.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls confirmed by media examinations during the current year indicated she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

Before the decision, kin of those who died in the demonstrations told media representatives they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

A family representative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and exploited their positions".

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

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

After her departure, an temporary leadership headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A national vote is scheduled for February 2026.

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

Hasina warned during the past month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the election.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but so far India has demonstrated no inclination to comply.

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

"I am unable to challenge because my clients are absent; that's why I am disappointed," he continued.

Recently, the defense attorneys said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN highlighting major judicial fairness and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina together with her former home minister and security forces head.

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

"The fury directed at Hasina and the her political party has not decreased," a Dhaka-based rights activist informed news organizations. "The leader and her faction has said sorry or shown any remorse for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "It makes it difficult for the faction to gain approval by a majority of people in this nation."

The activist added that the punishment was not finality for the relatives of those killed and injured.

"We work with numerous persons who suffered permanent amputations, they are now disabled, because of the suppression. They are incapable of excusing her."

An analyst, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it even more difficult" for her party to become a standard element of the country's governance system again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the former hierarchy," he said.