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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been given a death sentence for human rights violations due to her crackdown on student-led protests which resulted in her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the disturbances during 2024.

Hasina was tried in absentia 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 behind numerous deaths during the protests. Hasina has denied all charges, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over extended periods of oppression. Relatives of the deceased and injured had called for tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, the former leader stated the execution sentence was the interim government's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was proud of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

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

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under enhanced protection ahead of the ruling on Monday, with several of her detractors holding a protest and cheering as the judgment was announced.

The city has seen a sudden increase in disturbances, with numerous incendiary devices set off and public transport vehicles burned in the days leading up to the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official Jisanul Haque stated to news organizations.

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

UN human rights investigators declared in an analysis in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could amount to "violations of human dignity".

The study recorded the shooting at point-blank range of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls confirmed by media examinations earlier this year implied she had authorized the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

Before the decision, family members of those fatally injured in the unrest informed news agencies they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

A family representative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for her and co-accused who have "performed revengeful deeds and misused their authority".

A different family member, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "carried out before the election".

"Only then the kin of victims [in the protests] will find peace in their minds."

Following her removal, an interim government under the guidance of economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A national vote is scheduled for February 2026.

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

Hasina warned last month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the election.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but so far India has shown no willingness to acquiesce.

The legal representative assigned to her the defense lawyer said he was "sad [and wishes] the outcome had varied".

"I cannot even contest because my represented individuals are away; which is why I am sad," he stated further.

The previous week, her legal team said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN raising major judicial fairness and due process issues at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial together with her former home minister and police chief.

Although the punishment grants partial finality to families of killed in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the country's political divisions.

"The resentment towards Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not diminished," a Dhaka-based rights activist informed news organizations. "Both she and the organization has apologised or displayed repentance for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "This complicates matters for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this nation."

The advocate continued that the punishment was not resolution for the families of those who died and were wounded.

"We support several people who lost their limbs forever, they are now disabled, due to the crackdown. They will never be able to forgive her."

A journalist, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it particularly hard" for the political faction to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This may change if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the previous administration," he stated.