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The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity stemming from her severe measures on student-led protests which caused her removal from power.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against demonstrators, with approximately 1,400 individuals lost their lives during the turmoil last year.

Hasina was tried in absentia by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being responsible for hundreds of killings during the protests. She has refuted the entire case, labeling the proceedings as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and injured had demanded severe punishments.

Responding to the decision in a comprehensive declaration, Hasina said the death penalty was the temporary leadership's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was satisfied of her administration's performance on human rights.

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

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards ahead of the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors organizing a demonstration and applauding as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a recent spike in turmoil, with multiple explosives detonated and public transport vehicles burned in the time before the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, area law enforcement officer the police spokesperson informed press agencies.

The protest movement led by students last year began with calls to eliminate state employment quotas but evolved into a more extensive dissent initiative.

International human rights monitors declared in an analysis in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could represent "violations of human dignity".

The study recorded the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the purposeful disabling of additional individuals, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by media examinations in previous months implied she had authorized the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the legal process.

Ahead of the verdict, kin of those killed during the protests stated to press outlets they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

A family representative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for her and co-accused who have "performed revengeful deeds and exploited their positions".

Lucky Akther, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "implemented before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

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

Nonetheless, the Awami League, Hasina's political party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

She alerted in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the vote.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but so far India has expressed no readiness to agree.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the decision had been otherwise".

"I am unable to challenge because my represented individuals are away; which is why I am disheartened," he continued.

Last week, the defense attorneys said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN raising major judicial fairness and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina together with her previous domestic affairs official and security forces head.

Even though the verdict offers some closure to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may do little to soothe the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to press agencies. "Both she and the organization has apologised or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."

She said "It makes it difficult for the faction to gain approval by a bulk of the population in this nation."

The campaigner further stated that the sentence was not resolution for the kin of those killed and injured.

"We support multiple individuals 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 journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it particularly hard" for Awami League to become a normal feature of the nation's political landscape again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a separation from Sheikh Hasina and the old leadership," he stated.