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The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for human rights violations over her severe measures on student-led protests which caused her forced departure.

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the disturbances during 2024.

Legal proceedings were conducted without her presence by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being responsible for hundreds of killings during the protests. Hasina has denied the entire case, labeling the proceedings as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had called for severe punishments.

Reacting to the verdict in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the death penalty was the caretaker administration's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was content of her government's record on human rights.

"I have no trepidation to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards prior to the verdict on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina organizing a demonstration and applauding as the verdict was read.

The city has seen a recent spike in disturbances, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the days leading up to the verdict.

One explosive incident was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, area law enforcement officer the police spokesperson told media outlets.

The protest movement led by students last year started with demands to abolish public sector reservation policies but transformed into a wider anti-government movement.

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

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of certain demonstrators, the purposeful disabling of additional individuals, unwarranted detentions and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by external reviews 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, family members of those killed during the protests told news agencies they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

One relative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "committed acts of vengeance and abused their power".

Lucky Akther, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "carried out before the election".

"Only then the families of those killed [in the protests] will find peace in their souls."

After her departure, an temporary leadership under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A national vote is set for February 2026.

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

She alerted in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the ballot.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her return but until now India has demonstrated no inclination to acquiesce.

Her officially designated attorney her legal counsel said he was "disappointed and hoping the decision had been otherwise".

"I even cannot appeal because my represented individuals are away; which is why I am disheartened," he continued.

Last week, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN highlighting significant due process and due process issues at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial alongside her former home minister and security forces head.

Although the punishment provides certain resolution to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The anger against Hasina and the Awami League has not diminished," a human rights advocate from the capital told media outlets. "The leader and her faction has said sorry or demonstrated contrition for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The advocate declared "This complicates matters for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this country."

The advocate continued that the sentence was not finality for the families of those killed and injured.

"We assist multiple individuals who lost their limbs forever, they are now disabled, because of the suppression. They are incapable of excusing her."

An analyst, 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 could alter if "there is some kind of apology and a distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the former hierarchy," he expressed.