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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been given a death sentence for human rights violations stemming from her harsh response on student-led protests which led to her ousting.

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against demonstrators, among whom around 1,400 people died during the turmoil during 2024.

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

Legal authorities charged her of being behind multiple fatalities during the protests. Hasina has denied the entire case, labeling the proceedings as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The decision signifies a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over long-standing suppression. Relatives of the deceased and harmed had demanded strict sentences.

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, she expressed the capital punishment was the interim government'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 have no trepidation to confront those accusing me in a fair court where the facts can be assessed and reviewed impartially."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under increased safeguards ahead of the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics organizing a demonstration and celebrating as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in turmoil, with multiple explosives detonated and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official the authorities' representative stated to press agencies.

The protest movement led by students in the previous year began with requests to remove public sector reservation policies but morphed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

UN human rights investigators said in a report in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could represent "human rights atrocities".

The paper detailed the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the purposeful disabling of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and abuse.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by external reviews earlier this year indicated she had approved the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

Before the decision, kin of those fatally injured in the unrest informed press outlets they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

Ramjan Ali, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for Hasina and others who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

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 families of those killed [in the protests] will find peace in their minds."

Since Hasina's ousting, an interim government led by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A parliamentary election is planned for February 2026.

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

She alerted in the previous month that if the her faction's nominees were banned from standing in the upcoming election, numerous would avoid the ballot.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. Authorities have sought her return but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

The legal representative assigned to her her legal counsel said he was "unhappy and desiring the decision had been otherwise".

"I am unable to challenge because my represented individuals are away; for that reason I am sad," he added.

The previous week, the defense attorneys said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN raising serious fair trial and due process issues at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial together with her former home minister and security forces head.

Even though the verdict offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to press agencies. "Neither she nor the party has expressed regret or shown any remorse for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "This creates challenges for the organization to receive endorsement by a most citizens in this country."

The activist added that the penalty was not resolution for the kin of those killed and injured.

"We assist numerous persons who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They are incapable of excusing her."

A journalist, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it increasingly challenging" for her party to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the former hierarchy," he expressed.