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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for atrocities stemming from her harsh response on student-led protests which led to her ousting.

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, with approximately 1,400 individuals died during the turmoil in the previous year.

Legal proceedings were conducted while she was absent by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being behind hundreds of killings during the protests. Hasina has denied all charges, describing the process as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The verdict marks a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over years of repression. Families of those killed and injured had called for strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, she expressed the capital punishment was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was content of her leadership's history on civil liberties.

"I do not fear to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where the facts can be assessed and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards ahead of the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and celebrating as the judgment was announced.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in disturbances, with dozens of bombs exploded and buses set on fire in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, area law enforcement officer Jisanul Haque told media outlets.

The protest movement led by students in the previous year commenced through calls to eliminate public sector reservation policies but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

International human rights monitors stated in a document in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could represent "violations of human dignity".

The study recorded the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Disclosed sound files of a telephone conversation involving Hasina verified by media examinations during the current year implied she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the proceedings.

Ahead of the verdict, relatives of those fatally injured in the unrest stated to press outlets they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

A family representative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

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

"Only then the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

After her departure, an temporary leadership led by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A parliamentary election is set for February 2026.

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

She alerted last month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, numerous would avoid the ballot.

The judgment creates a diplomatic challenge for the neighboring countries. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but to date India has expressed no readiness to agree.

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

"I am unable to challenge because my clients are absent; which is why I am disheartened," he added.

Recently, Hasina's lawyers said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN pointing out significant due process and due process issues at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial in conjunction with her previous domestic affairs official and police chief.

While the sentence grants partial finality to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the her political party has not subsided," a Dhaka-based rights activist stated to media outlets. "The leader and her faction has said sorry or displayed repentance for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The activist stated "It makes it difficult 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 killed and injured.

"We support several people who lost their limbs forever, they are currently without limbs, because of the suppression. They will never be able to forgive 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 regular participant of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "an expression of regret occurs and a separation from Sheikh Hasina and the previous administration," he said.