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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for atrocities due to her crackdown on protests led by students which led to her forced departure.

Hasina was declared culpable of allowing lethal force to be used against demonstrators, with approximately 1,400 individuals lost their lives during the disturbances in the previous year.

Hasina was tried while she was absent by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being responsible for hundreds of killings during the protests. Hasina has denied the entire case, describing the process as "biased and politically motivated".

This judgment represents a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over years of repression. Relatives of the deceased and wounded had demanded severe punishments.

Reacting to the verdict in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the death penalty was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a governing body and that she was satisfied of her leadership's history on civil liberties.

"I do not fear to confront those accusing me in a fair court where the proof can be evaluated and tested fairly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under tightened security prior to the decision on Monday, with several of her detractors holding a protest and cheering as the sentence was declared.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in turmoil, with multiple explosives detonated and coaches ignited in the period preceding the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, area law enforcement officer the authorities' representative told news organizations.

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

United Nations rights examiners said in a report in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could amount to "violations of human dignity".

The study recorded the firing at close quarters of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of others, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Leaked audio of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by external reviews in previous months indicated she had sanctioned the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the trial.

Ahead of the verdict, kin of those killed during the protests stated to news agencies they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

A family representative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for the former leader and associates who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and abused their power".

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".

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

After her departure, an interim government headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A parliamentary election is set for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the her former political organization, the former ruling party, was banned by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

Hasina warned in the previous month that if the party's candidates were barred from participating in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the ballot.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but so far India has demonstrated no inclination to comply.

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

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

The previous week, Hasina's lawyers said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising major judicial fairness and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial alongside her former home minister and security forces head.

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not diminished," a human rights advocate from the capital informed press agencies. "The leader and her faction has expressed regret or demonstrated contrition for the killings of hundreds of people."

The advocate declared "This creates challenges for the faction to gain approval by a majority of people in this country."

The activist added that the sentence was not closure for the relatives of those who died and were wounded.

"We work with several people who lost their limbs forever, they are currently without limbs, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

A journalist, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for her party to become a standard element of Bangladeshi politics again.

This may change if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with Hasina and the previous administration," he stated.