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The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for crimes against humanity due to her severe measures on student-led protests which caused her forced departure.

Hasina was declared culpable of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people lost their lives during the disturbances in the previous year.

The trial proceeded in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being behind hundreds of killings during the protests. The former leader rejected every accusation, labeling the proceedings as "biased and politically motivated".

This judgment represents a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over years of repression. Families of those killed and harmed had called for tough penalties.

Answering the judgment in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the capital punishment was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a governing body and that she was content of her leadership's history on human rights.

"I do not fear to face my accusers in a just legal forum 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 verdict on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina organizing a demonstration and celebrating as the sentence was declared.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in disturbances, with multiple explosives detonated and coaches ignited in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, area law enforcement officer the police spokesperson informed news organizations.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 started with requests to remove state employment quotas but transformed into a broader opposition campaign.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could represent "human rights atrocities".

The paper detailed the firing at close quarters of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by investigative sources in previous months indicated she had sanctioned 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 fatally injured in the unrest informed media representatives they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

A family representative, 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 misused their authority".

A different family member, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "implemented before the election".

"Solely at that point the families of those killed [in the protests] will find peace in their minds."

After her departure, an interim government led by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A parliamentary election is set for February 2026.

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

She alerted in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, millions would boycott the ballot.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. Authorities have sought her extradition but so far India has demonstrated no inclination to acquiesce.

Her officially designated attorney Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "disappointed and hoping the decision had been otherwise".

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; that's why I am disappointed," he continued.

Last week, her legal team said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN raising serious fair trial and judicial process problems at the ICT.

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

While the sentence grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the country's political divisions.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the Awami League has not subsided," a Dhaka-based rights activist told news organizations. "Neither she nor the party has apologised or demonstrated contrition for the killings of hundreds of people."

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

The advocate continued that the penalty was not closure for the relatives of those who died and were wounded.

"We assist multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it particularly hard" for the political faction to become a standard element of the country's governance system again.

This could alter if "an expression of regret occurs and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the previous administration," he said.