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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for atrocities due to her harsh response on protests led by students which led to her ousting.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of authorizing deadly measures to be used against demonstrators, 1,400 of whom died during the disturbances last year.

Hasina was tried while she was absent by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of hundreds of killings during the protests. Hasina has denied every accusation, describing the process as "biased and politically motivated".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over years of repression. Families of those killed and wounded had demanded tough penalties.

Responding to the decision in a comprehensive declaration, Hasina said the capital punishment was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a governing body and that she was proud of her leadership's history on civil liberties.

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

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under increased safeguards before the verdict on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and applauding as the sentence was declared.

The capital witnessed a notable rise in unrest, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the time before the verdict.

One explosive incident was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, area law enforcement officer the police spokesperson informed news organizations.

The youth-driven revolt during 2024 started with calls to eliminate state employment quotas but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis 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 torture.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by external reviews earlier this year suggested she had sanctioned the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the trial.

Prior to the ruling, relatives of those killed during the protests told media representatives they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

One relative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for Hasina and others who have "performed revengeful deeds and misused their authority".

Another relative, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "carried out before the election".

"Only then the families of those killed [in the protests] will obtain solace in their hearts."

Following her removal, an caretaker administration headed by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A parliamentary election is scheduled for February 2026.

However, the Hasina's political party, her political faction, was prohibited by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

Hasina warned during the past month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the ballot.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

Her officially designated attorney her legal counsel said he was "unhappy and desiring the verdict had been different".

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; that's why I am sad," he continued.

Last week, Hasina's lawyers said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN highlighting serious fair trial and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial alongside her ex-interior minister and security forces head.

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

"The resentment towards Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not subsided," a human rights advocate from the capital stated to news organizations. "The leader and her faction has said sorry or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."

She said "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this state."

The activist added that the punishment was not finality for the families of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

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

David Bergman, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for her party to become a regular participant of Bangladeshi politics again.

This may change if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from the former leader and the previous administration," he expressed.