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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for human rights violations due to her harsh response on student-led protests which led to her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against demonstrators, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the unrest last year.

Legal proceedings were conducted in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being responsible for numerous deaths during the protests. She has refuted the entire case, describing the process as "biased and politically motivated".

The verdict marks a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had called for tough penalties.

Answering the judgment in a five-page statement, she expressed the execution sentence was the temporary leadership's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was content of her administration's performance on civil liberties.

"I have no trepidation to meet my challengers in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and reviewed impartially."

The capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under tightened security before the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and celebrating as the judgment was announced.

The city has seen a notable rise in unrest, with numerous incendiary devices set off and public transport vehicles burned in the time before the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, area law enforcement officer the authorities' representative told press agencies.

The protest movement led by students last year commenced through requests to remove government job quotas but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

International human rights monitors said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could amount to "crimes against humanity".

The study recorded the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Leaked audio of one of Hasina's phone calls verified by media examinations in previous months suggested she had sanctioned the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

Before the decision, family members of those who died in the demonstrations told press outlets they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

A family representative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

A different family member, whose partner was fatally injured 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 find peace in their hearts."

Since Hasina's ousting, an interim government headed by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the her former political organization, the former ruling party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

She alerted in the previous month that if the her faction's nominees were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, numerous would avoid the vote.

The verdict now poses a diplomatic challenge for both nations. Authorities have sought her repatriation but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to comply.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "sad [and wishes] the outcome had varied".

"I even cannot appeal because my defendants are not present; that's why I am disheartened," he stated further.

The previous week, Hasina's lawyers said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising significant due process and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina in conjunction with her former home minister and security forces head.

Although the punishment grants partial finality to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the country's political divisions.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not decreased," 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."

The activist stated "This creates challenges for the party to be accepted by a bulk of the population in this state."

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

"We work with numerous persons who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, because of the suppression. They are incapable of excusing her."

David Bergman, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it increasingly challenging" for the political faction to become a normal feature of the country's governance system again.

This could alter if "an expression of regret occurs and a separation from the former leader and the previous administration," he expressed.