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The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for human rights violations over her crackdown on youth demonstrations which led to her ousting.

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, with approximately 1,400 individuals died during the unrest during 2024.

The trial proceeded while she was absent by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) 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. The former leader rejected every accusation, describing the process as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Families of those killed and wounded had requested severe punishments.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, she expressed the death penalty was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was satisfied of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I have no trepidation to confront those accusing me in a proper tribunal where the facts can be assessed and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under tightened security ahead of the ruling on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina organizing a demonstration and applauding as the sentence was declared.

Dhaka experienced a sudden increase in unrest, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the days leading up to the verdict.

One explosive incident was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, area law enforcement officer the police spokesperson told news organizations.

The protest movement led by students last year started with calls to eliminate state employment quotas but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners said in a report in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could represent "violations of human dignity".

The paper detailed the gunfire from minimal distance of some protesters, the purposeful disabling of others, unwarranted detentions and mistreatment.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by media examinations during the current year indicated she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the legal process.

Ahead of the verdict, kin of those fatally injured in the unrest stated to media representatives they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

Ramjan Ali, whose sibling was killed 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 husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "implemented before the election".

"Solely at that point the kin of victims [in the protests] will find peace in their hearts."

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

Nevertheless, the Awami League, Hasina's political party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

The former leader cautioned last month that if the her faction's nominees were banned from standing in the upcoming election, millions would boycott the ballot.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but until now India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer her legal counsel said he was "disappointed and hoping the decision had been otherwise".

"I am unable to challenge because my represented individuals are away; that's why I am disheartened," he continued.

Last week, her legal team said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN pointing out serious fair trial and due process issues at the ICT.

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

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to families of killed in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the state's ideological splits.

"The anger against Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed news organizations. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or shown any remorse for the fatalities of countless citizens."

She said "This creates challenges for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this nation."

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

"We work with multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, due to the crackdown. They will never be able to forgive her."

An analyst, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it even more difficult" for her party to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a separation from the former leader and the former hierarchy," he said.