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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for atrocities due to her harsh response on student-led protests which caused her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of authorizing deadly measures to be used against activists, with approximately 1,400 individuals died during the disturbances last year.

Legal proceedings were conducted while she was absent by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being responsible for numerous deaths during the protests. She has refuted every accusation, describing the process as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The decision signifies a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had demanded tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed 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 individual freedoms.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the facts can be assessed and reviewed impartially."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under increased safeguards before the decision on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally and applauding as the verdict was read.

The city has seen a notable rise in turmoil, with dozens of bombs exploded and coaches ignited in the time before the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, area law enforcement officer the authorities' representative informed media outlets.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 started with requests to remove state employment quotas but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis 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 purposeful disabling of additional individuals, unwarranted detentions and abuse.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls verified by media examinations during the current year indicated she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the proceedings.

Ahead of the verdict, family members of those fatally injured in the unrest stated to press outlets they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

A family representative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for her and co-accused who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

Lucky Akther, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "carried out before the election".

"Only then the families of those killed [in the protests] will obtain solace in their minds."

Since Hasina's ousting, an interim government headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the her former political organization, the former ruling party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

Hasina warned last month that if the party's candidates were banned from standing in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the ballot.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Authorities have sought her repatriation but so far India has demonstrated no inclination to comply.

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

"I am unable to challenge because my represented individuals are away; that's why I am disappointed," he continued.

The previous week, Hasina's lawyers said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN pointing out major judicial fairness and due process issues at the ICT.

Hasina was tried in conjunction with her previous domestic affairs official and security forces head.

Even though the verdict offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may do little to soothe the nation's partisan rifts.

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

The activist stated "This complicates matters for the party to be accepted by a bulk of the population in this country."

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

"We work with numerous persons who suffered permanent amputations, they are now disabled, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

A journalist, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it particularly hard" for her party to become a regular participant of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with the former leader and the old leadership," he said.