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The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity due to her crackdown on student-led protests which led to her ousting.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of permitting fatal actions to be used against demonstrators, 1,400 of whom lost their lives during the unrest during 2024.

Hasina was tried in absentia by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. She has refuted every accusation, calling the trial 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 injured had requested severe punishments.

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, she expressed the capital punishment was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was content of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I do not fear to meet my challengers in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under enhanced protection prior to the verdict on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and cheering as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a sudden increase in unrest, with numerous incendiary devices set off and coaches ignited in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, area law enforcement officer the police spokesperson informed news organizations.

The student-led uprising last year began with requests to remove state employment quotas but morphed into a broader opposition campaign.

United Nations rights examiners said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could constitute "violations of human dignity".

The paper detailed the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and abuse.

Leaked audio of one of Hasina's phone calls confirmed by media examinations earlier this year suggested she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the trial.

Ahead of the verdict, family members of those who died in the demonstrations informed news agencies they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

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

A different family member, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "implemented before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the families of those killed [in the protests] will find peace in their hearts."

Since Hasina's ousting, an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Hasina's political party, Hasina's political party, was banned by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

She alerted last month that if the party's candidates were banned from standing in the forthcoming vote, millions would boycott the vote.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Authorities have sought her extradition but so far India has shown no willingness to agree.

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

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; for that reason I am disappointed," he stated further.

The previous week, the defense attorneys 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 alongside her ex-interior minister and top law enforcement officer.

Although the punishment offers some closure to families of killed in the protests, it may do little to soothe the state's ideological splits.

"The anger against Hasina and the Awami League has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed media outlets. "The leader and her faction has apologised or demonstrated contrition for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a majority of people in this nation."

The activist added that the sentence was not closure for the relatives of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We support several people who lost their limbs forever, they are now disabled, as a result of the harsh measures. They are incapable of excusing her."

David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it increasingly challenging" for Awami League to become a standard element of Bangladeshi politics again.

This may change if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the former hierarchy," he said.