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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been given a death sentence for atrocities due to her crackdown on youth demonstrations which resulted in her forced departure.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people lost their lives during the disturbances during 2024.

Hasina was tried while she was absent by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being the mastermind of hundreds of killings during the protests. Hasina has denied the entire case, labeling the proceedings as "biased and politically motivated".

The verdict marks a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had requested severe punishments.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, she expressed the capital punishment was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was proud of her government's record on human rights.

"I am not afraid to meet my challengers in a fair court where the facts can be assessed and reviewed impartially."

The capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards prior to the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and cheering as the verdict was read.

The capital witnessed a recent spike in disturbances, with multiple explosives detonated and public transport vehicles burned in the days leading up to the verdict.

One explosive incident was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police official Jisanul Haque informed news organizations.

The student-led uprising during 2024 started with demands to abolish public sector reservation policies but evolved into a more extensive dissent initiative.

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

The study recorded the gunfire from minimal distance of some protesters, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Leaked audio of one of Hasina's phone calls confirmed by media examinations in previous months implied she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the trial.

Before the decision, relatives of those fatally injured in the unrest told press outlets they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for her and co-accused who have "committed acts of vengeance and abused their power".

Another relative, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "carried out before the election".

"Only then the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

After her departure, an temporary leadership led by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A parliamentary election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Awami League, Hasina's political party, 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 forthcoming vote, numerous would avoid the ballot.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but to date India has shown no willingness to comply.

The legal representative assigned to her Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the outcome had varied".

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

Recently, the defense attorneys said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN highlighting significant due process and judicial process problems at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial alongside her previous domestic affairs official and top law enforcement officer.

Although the punishment provides certain resolution to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the nation's partisan rifts.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed news organizations. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or demonstrated contrition for the fatalities of countless citizens."

She said "It makes it difficult for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this state."

The advocate continued that the punishment was not closure for the kin of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We assist numerous persons who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, due to the crackdown. They will never be able to forgive her."

A journalist, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for Awami League to become a normal feature of the nation's political landscape again.

This might transform if "there is some kind of apology and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the former hierarchy," he stated.