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The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for atrocities over her crackdown on student-led protests which led to her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom lost their lives during the turmoil during 2024.

Hasina was tried while she was absent by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being the mastermind of numerous deaths during the protests. The former leader rejected every accusation, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

The verdict marks a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over years of repression. Families of those killed and harmed had requested tough penalties.

Responding to the decision in a comprehensive declaration, the former leader stated the execution sentence was the interim government's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was content of her government's record on individual freedoms.

"I am not afraid to meet my challengers in a just legal forum where the proof can be evaluated and examined justly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security before the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally and cheering as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a sudden increase in unrest, with numerous incendiary devices set off and public transport vehicles burned in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, regional security representative the police spokesperson stated to news organizations.

The protest movement led by students in the previous year commenced through calls to eliminate government job quotas but morphed into a broader opposition campaign.

United Nations rights examiners stated in a document in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could amount to "violations of human dignity".

The paper detailed the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the intentional injuring of further participants, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Leaked audio of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by media examinations during the current year implied she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the proceedings.

Ahead of the verdict, relatives of those killed during the protests told media representatives they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for Hasina and others who have "performed revengeful deeds and abused their power".

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

"Exclusively thereafter the kin of victims [in the protests] will obtain solace in their hearts."

Since Hasina's ousting, an temporary leadership headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A national vote is set for February 2026.

However, the her former political organization, her political faction, was prohibited by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

She alerted last month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the forthcoming vote, numerous would avoid the election.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her return but until now India has expressed no readiness to comply.

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

"I even cannot appeal because my defendants are not present; for that reason I am sad," he added.

Last week, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising serious fair trial and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her ex-interior minister and top law enforcement officer.

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to families of killed in the protests, it may do little to soothe the nation's partisan rifts.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not diminished," a Dhaka-based rights activist informed media outlets. "The leader and her faction has said sorry or shown any remorse for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The advocate declared "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this nation."

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

"We work with numerous persons who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They are incapable of excusing her."

A journalist, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it particularly hard" for Awami League to become a regular participant of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from the former leader and the previous administration," he said.