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The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for human rights violations stemming from her harsh response on youth demonstrations which caused her ousting.

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

Legal proceedings were conducted without her presence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India following her ouster in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being behind numerous deaths during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over years of repression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had requested strict sentences.

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, the former leader stated the capital punishment was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was proud of her leadership's history on civil liberties.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the proof can be evaluated and tested fairly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards ahead of the ruling on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and applauding as the verdict was read.

The city has seen a sudden increase in turmoil, with dozens of bombs exploded and public transport vehicles burned in the time before the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, area law enforcement officer Jisanul Haque told press agencies.

The protest movement led by students in the previous year began with demands to abolish public sector reservation policies but transformed into a broader opposition campaign.

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

The study recorded the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of further participants, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina confirmed by external reviews during the current year suggested she had authorized the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

Ahead of the verdict, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations told news agencies they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

One relative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for her and co-accused who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and exploited their positions".

Another relative, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "executed before the election".

"Solely at that point the kin of victims [in the protests] will find peace in their minds."

Following her removal, an caretaker administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

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

Hasina warned during the past month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the imminent electoral process, millions would boycott the election.

The judgment creates a diplomatic challenge for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but so far India has expressed no readiness to agree.

The legal representative assigned to her the defense lawyer said he was "disappointed and hoping the verdict had been different".

"I cannot even contest because my represented individuals are away; that's why I am disappointed," he continued.

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

Legal proceedings involved Hasina alongside her previous domestic affairs official and security forces head.

While the sentence offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the nation's partisan rifts.

"The fury directed at Hasina and the Awami League has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to press agencies. "Neither she nor the party has said sorry or demonstrated contrition for the fatalities of countless citizens."

She said "This complicates matters for the faction to gain approval by a bulk of the population in this country."

The advocate continued that the punishment was not finality for the relatives of those killed and injured.

"We support several people who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, as a result of the harsh measures. They are incapable of excusing her."

David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it even more difficult" for Awami League to become a regular participant of the nation's political landscape again.

This may change if "a form of contrition emerges and a separation from the former leader and the old leadership," he said.