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The country's previous leader has been handed capital punishment for human rights violations due to her harsh response on protests led by students which resulted in her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom were killed during the turmoil in the previous year.

Legal proceedings were conducted without her presence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being behind multiple fatalities during the protests. She has refuted all charges, describing the process as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and injured had called for strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, the former leader stated the death penalty was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was satisfied of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I have no trepidation to meet my challengers in a just legal forum where the facts can be assessed and tested fairly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under enhanced protection before the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and applauding as the sentence was declared.

Dhaka experienced a recent spike in turmoil, with dozens of bombs exploded and public transport vehicles burned in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official the authorities' representative stated to media outlets.

The protest movement led by students last year started with requests to remove government job quotas but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

UN human rights investigators said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could constitute "crimes against humanity".

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of additional individuals, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by external reviews during the current year indicated she had sanctioned the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

Before the decision, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations told news agencies they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for her and co-accused who have "performed revengeful deeds and abused their power".

Lucky Akther, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "carried out before the election".

"Only then the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their hearts."

Since Hasina's ousting, an interim government under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

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

Hasina warned in the previous month that if the her faction's nominees were banned from standing in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the vote.

This decision presents a international dilemma for both nations. Authorities have sought her return but until now India has shown no willingness to comply.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer her legal counsel said he was "sad [and wishes] the outcome had varied".

"I am unable to challenge because my defendants are not present; which is why I am sad," he continued.

The previous week, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising significant due process and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina alongside her ex-interior minister and security forces head.

While the sentence provides certain resolution to kin of victims in the protests, it may do little to soothe the country's political divisions.

"The resentment towards Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed media outlets. "The leader and her faction has apologised or demonstrated contrition for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "It makes it difficult for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this nation."

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

"We assist numerous persons who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, due to the crackdown. They will never be able to forgive her."

A journalist, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it increasingly challenging" for Awami League to become a regular participant of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the previous administration," he said.