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The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for human rights violations due to her severe measures on student-led protests which led to her ousting.

Hasina was declared culpable of authorizing deadly measures to be used against activists, with approximately 1,400 individuals lost their lives during the turmoil in the previous year.

Hasina was tried while she was absent by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. The former leader rejected every accusation, calling the trial as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Relatives of the deceased and wounded had requested strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the capital punishment was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a governing body and that she was satisfied of her administration's performance on human rights.

"I have no trepidation to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the facts can be assessed and reviewed impartially."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under enhanced protection ahead of the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors organizing a demonstration and celebrating as the verdict was read.

The city has seen a recent spike in unrest, with dozens of bombs exploded and buses set on fire in the days leading up to the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, regional security representative the authorities' representative stated to news organizations.

The student-led uprising during 2024 started with calls to eliminate government job quotas but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

United Nations rights examiners said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could represent "violations of human dignity".

The study recorded the firing at close quarters of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls confirmed by external reviews during the current year suggested she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the trial.

Before the decision, kin of those who died in the demonstrations informed press outlets they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

A family representative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for her and co-accused who have "committed acts of vengeance and exploited their positions".

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".

"Solely at that point the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will achieve closure in their hearts."

After her departure, an temporary leadership headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A parliamentary election is planned for February 2026.

However, the her former political organization, her political faction, was outlawed by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

Hasina warned in the previous month that if the her faction's nominees were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, millions would boycott the ballot.

This decision presents a international dilemma for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but to date India has shown no willingness to comply.

Her officially designated attorney her legal counsel said he was "sad [and wishes] the outcome had varied".

"I am unable to challenge because my represented individuals are away; which is why I am sad," he stated further.

Last week, the defense attorneys said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising major judicial fairness and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

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

Even though the verdict provides certain resolution to families of killed in the protests, it may not significantly ease the nation's partisan rifts.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not diminished," a human rights advocate from the capital stated to press agencies. "The leader and her faction has said sorry or shown any remorse for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The activist stated "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this nation."

The campaigner further stated that the punishment was not closure for the kin of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We assist numerous persons who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. 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 standard element of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "there is some kind of apology and a disassociation with the former leader and the old leadership," he stated.