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The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for human rights violations stemming from her crackdown on protests led by students which caused her removal from power.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against activists, 1,400 of whom lost their lives during the disturbances during 2024.

Hasina was tried in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being responsible for hundreds of killings during the protests. The former leader rejected every accusation, describing the process as "biased and politically motivated".

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Relatives of the deceased and injured had demanded strict sentences.

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, the former leader stated the execution sentence was the caretaker administration's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was content of her government's record on human rights.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security before the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and celebrating as the sentence was declared.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in disturbances, with dozens of bombs exploded and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

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

The student-led uprising in the previous year started with demands to abolish public sector reservation policies but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could represent "crimes against humanity".

The report documented the firing at close quarters of some protesters, the purposeful disabling of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and abuse.

Leaked audio of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by external reviews in previous months indicated she had approved the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

Prior to the ruling, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations told news agencies they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

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

Lucky Akther, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "executed before the election".

"Solely at that point the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will achieve closure in their souls."

After her departure, an interim government headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

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

Hasina warned last month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the vote.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but so far India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

Her officially designated attorney her legal counsel said he was "sad [and wishes] the decision had been otherwise".

"I cannot even contest because my represented individuals are away; which is why I am disappointed," he stated further.

The previous week, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN pointing out serious fair trial and due process issues at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial in conjunction with her former home minister and police chief.

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to families of killed in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not diminished," a human rights advocate from the capital stated to press agencies. "Neither she nor the party has apologised or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

The advocate declared "It makes it difficult for the organization to receive endorsement by a majority of people in this country."

The campaigner further stated that the penalty was not closure for the relatives of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We support several people who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, because of the suppression. They will never be able to forgive her."

David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it particularly hard" for her party to become a normal feature of the country's governance system again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a separation from the former leader and the old leadership," he expressed.