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The country's previous leader has been handed capital punishment for human rights violations due to her severe measures on youth demonstrations which caused her removal from power.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the turmoil last year.

Legal proceedings were conducted while she was absent by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India following her ouster in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being responsible for multiple fatalities during the protests. She has refuted the entire case, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Families of those killed and injured had demanded strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, Hasina said the death penalty was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was content of her leadership's history on human rights.

"I do not fear to meet my challengers in a proper tribunal where the proof can be evaluated and examined justly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under increased safeguards ahead of the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and cheering as the verdict was read.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in unrest, with dozens of bombs exploded and coaches ignited in the days leading up to the verdict.

One explosive incident was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official Jisanul Haque stated to news organizations.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 started with calls to eliminate public sector reservation policies but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

International human rights monitors declared in an analysis in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could amount to "crimes against humanity".

The study recorded the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the intentional injuring of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Leaked audio of a call made by the former leader authenticated by external reviews during the current year implied she had authorized the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the legal process.

Prior to the ruling, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations informed media representatives they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for her and co-accused who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

A different family member, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "implemented before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the families of those killed [in the protests] will obtain solace in their hearts."

After her departure, an interim government headed by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A parliamentary election is set for February 2026.

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

The former leader cautioned in the previous month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the forthcoming vote, numerous would avoid the election.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her return but until now India has shown no willingness to comply.

The legal representative assigned to her Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the verdict had been different".

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

Recently, Hasina's lawyers said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN highlighting serious fair trial and due process issues at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her previous domestic affairs official and security forces head.

While the sentence provides certain resolution to families of killed in the protests, it may do little to soothe the state's ideological splits.

"The resentment towards Sheikh Hasina and the her political party has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to press agencies. "The leader and her faction has expressed regret or shown any remorse for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The activist stated "This creates challenges for the faction to gain approval by a most citizens in this nation."

The campaigner further stated that the sentence was not finality for the relatives of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We assist multiple individuals who lost their limbs forever, they are now disabled, as a result of the harsh measures. They cannot pardon her."

A journalist, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it particularly hard" for her party to become a regular participant of the country's governance system again.

This may change if "an expression of regret occurs and a separation from the former leader and the former hierarchy," he expressed.