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The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for human rights violations stemming from her severe measures on protests led by students which led to her ousting.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of authorizing deadly measures to be used against activists, with approximately 1,400 individuals were killed during the unrest during 2024.

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

Prosecutors accused her of being behind multiple fatalities during the protests. She has refuted the entire case, labeling the proceedings as "biased and politically motivated".

This judgment represents a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Families of those killed and wounded had demanded severe punishments.

Responding to the decision in a detailed document, Hasina said the capital punishment was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a governing body and that she was satisfied of her leadership's history on human rights.

"I do not fear to meet my challengers in a fair court where the proof can be evaluated and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under tightened security ahead of the decision on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina holding a protest and celebrating as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in turmoil, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the time before the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, regional security representative the authorities' representative informed press agencies.

The youth-driven revolt last year commenced through demands to abolish state employment quotas but transformed into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners said in a report in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could amount to "human rights atrocities".

The report documented the firing at close quarters of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of further participants, arbitrary arrests and torture.

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

Prior to the ruling, kin of those who died in the demonstrations informed press outlets they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

A family representative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for her and co-accused who have "performed revengeful deeds and misused their authority".

Another relative, whose spouse died 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 obtain solace in their hearts."

Since Hasina's ousting, an caretaker administration under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A general 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 last month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the forthcoming vote, numerous would avoid the vote.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Authorities have sought her repatriation but until now India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

The legal representative assigned to her the defense lawyer said he was "sad [and wishes] the decision had been otherwise".

"I even cannot appeal because my represented individuals are away; which is why I am disappointed," he added.

The previous week, her legal team said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN pointing out serious fair trial and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina together with her previous domestic affairs official and top law enforcement officer.

Although the punishment provides certain resolution to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the country's political divisions.

"The anger against Sheikh Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to news organizations. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or displayed repentance for the killings of hundreds of people."

The activist stated "This creates challenges for the party to be accepted by a majority of people in this country."

The advocate continued that the sentence was not closure for the kin of those killed and injured.

"We support numerous persons who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for Awami League to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This may change if "an expression of regret occurs and a distancing from the former leader and the old leadership," he expressed.