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The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for atrocities over her crackdown on youth demonstrations which led to her removal from power.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of authorizing deadly measures to be used against activists, with approximately 1,400 individuals died during the turmoil in the previous year.

Hasina was tried without her presence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being responsible for hundreds of killings during the protests. She has refuted every accusation, labeling the proceedings as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had called for severe punishments.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, she expressed the death penalty was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was content of her government's record on civil liberties.

"I have no trepidation to meet my challengers in a proper tribunal where the facts can be assessed and examined justly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards before the ruling on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally and cheering as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a recent spike in unrest, with numerous incendiary devices set off and coaches ignited in the time before the verdict.

One explosive incident was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official the police spokesperson told press agencies.

The protest movement led by students in the previous year started with requests to remove state employment quotas but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

UN human rights investigators declared in an analysis in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could constitute "violations of human dignity".

The paper detailed the gunfire from minimal distance of some protesters, the deliberate maiming of others, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Disclosed sound files of a telephone conversation involving Hasina verified by investigative sources during the current year suggested she had sanctioned the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the legal process.

Ahead of the verdict, kin of those who died in the demonstrations told press outlets they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

One relative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

Lucky Akther, whose spouse died 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 interim government under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A national vote is scheduled for February 2026.

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

Hasina warned in the previous month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the forthcoming vote, millions would boycott the election.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. Dhaka has formally requested her repatriation but until now India has demonstrated no inclination 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 clients are absent; which is why I am disheartened," he added.

Recently, her legal team said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN raising significant due process and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her former home minister and police chief.

While the sentence provides certain resolution to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the country's political divisions.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the her political party has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed press agencies. "Neither she nor the party has said sorry or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."

She said "It makes it difficult for the organization to receive endorsement by a most citizens in this nation."

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

"We support numerous persons who suffered permanent amputations, they are now disabled, because of the suppression. They will never be able to forgive her."

A journalist, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it even more difficult" for the political faction to become a standard element of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "an expression of regret occurs and a separation from Hasina and the old leadership," he said.