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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been given a death sentence for human rights violations over her severe measures on protests led by students which caused her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against activists, with approximately 1,400 individuals died during the turmoil last year.

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

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of hundreds of killings during the protests. Hasina has denied every accusation, describing the process as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

This judgment represents a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over long-standing suppression. Families of those killed and injured had requested strict sentences.

Answering the judgment in a detailed document, Hasina said the death penalty was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was satisfied of her administration's performance on civil liberties.

"I have no trepidation to face my accusers in a fair court where the proof can be evaluated and tested fairly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security before the ruling on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina organizing a demonstration and applauding as the judgment was announced.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in unrest, with dozens of bombs exploded and public transport vehicles burned in the days leading up to the verdict.

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

The protest movement led by students in the previous year started with requests to remove public sector reservation policies but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

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

The report documented the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Disclosed sound files of a telephone conversation involving Hasina confirmed by media examinations earlier this year implied she had sanctioned the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the legal process.

Ahead of the verdict, relatives of those killed during the protests told press outlets they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

One relative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "performed revengeful deeds and abused their power".

Another relative, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "executed before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their souls."

Since Hasina's ousting, an temporary leadership headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A parliamentary election is set for February 2026.

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

She alerted during the past month that if the party's candidates were barred from participating in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the ballot.

This decision presents a diplomatic challenge for the neighboring countries. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but to date India has expressed no readiness to comply.

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

"I cannot even contest because my clients are absent; which is why I am disheartened," he continued.

The previous week, Hasina's lawyers said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN raising major judicial fairness and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina alongside her previous domestic affairs official and security forces head.

Even though the verdict provides certain resolution to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may not significantly ease the country's political divisions.

"The resentment towards Sheikh Hasina and the her political party has not diminished," a human rights advocate from the capital informed news organizations. "The leader and her faction 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 bulk of the population in this country."

The campaigner further stated that the punishment was not closure for the kin of those who died and were wounded.

"We work with multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, due to the crackdown. They are incapable of excusing her."

David Bergman, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it particularly hard" for the political faction to become a standard element of Bangladeshi politics again.

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