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

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the unrest during 2024.

The trial proceeded while she was absent by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being behind numerous deaths during the protests. Hasina has denied the entire case, labeling the proceedings as "biased and politically motivated".

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had demanded severe punishments.

Answering the judgment in a five-page statement, the former leader stated the death penalty was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was content of her administration's performance on human rights.

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

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under enhanced protection before the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors organizing a demonstration and cheering as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a recent spike in disturbances, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, area law enforcement officer the authorities' representative told press agencies.

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

International human rights monitors said in a report in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could represent "violations of human dignity".

The report documented the firing at close quarters of a number of activists, the intentional injuring of additional individuals, unwarranted detentions and abuse.

Disclosed sound files of a telephone conversation involving Hasina confirmed by media examinations in previous months indicated she had sanctioned the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the proceedings.

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

A family representative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for the former leader and associates who have "committed acts of vengeance and exploited their positions".

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

"Only then the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will obtain solace in their hearts."

Since Hasina's ousting, an caretaker administration headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A parliamentary election is planned for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Awami League, the former ruling party, was banned by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

The former leader cautioned in the previous month that if the party's candidates were banned from standing in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the election.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Authorities have sought her return but to date India has expressed no readiness to agree.

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

"I even cannot appeal because my defendants are not present; which is why I am sad," he stated further.

Last week, Hasina's lawyers said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN pointing out major judicial fairness and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Hasina was tried together with her previous domestic affairs official and police chief.

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not subsided," a Dhaka-based rights activist told media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has said sorry or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "This complicates matters for the organization to receive endorsement by a majority of people in this nation."

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

"We assist several people who suffered permanent amputations, they are amputees now, because of the suppression. 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 increasingly challenging" for the political faction to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

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