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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for human rights violations due to her crackdown on protests led by students which led to her removal from power.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the disturbances in the previous year.

The trial proceeded in absentia by the special international tribunal 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 multiple fatalities during the protests. The former leader rejected every accusation, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had called for strict sentences.

Responding to the decision in a comprehensive declaration, Hasina said the capital punishment was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was proud of her government's record on individual freedoms.

"I am not afraid to confront those accusing me in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and reviewed impartially."

The capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under tightened security prior to the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally and applauding as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a notable rise in turmoil, with multiple explosives detonated and public transport vehicles burned in the time before the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police official the police spokesperson stated to press agencies.

The youth-driven revolt last year started with requests to remove state employment quotas but evolved into a broader opposition campaign.

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

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of certain demonstrators, the intentional injuring of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and abuse.

Disclosed sound files of a call made by the former leader confirmed by media examinations during the current year indicated she had authorized the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

Before the decision, kin of those killed during the protests told news agencies they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

One relative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for the former leader and associates who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and exploited their positions".

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

"Exclusively thereafter the kin of victims [in the protests] will obtain solace in their minds."

After her departure, an temporary leadership headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A parliamentary election is planned for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Awami League, the former ruling party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

Hasina warned during the past month that if the party's candidates were barred from participating in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the ballot.

The judgment creates a international dilemma for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but until now India has expressed no readiness to comply.

Her officially designated attorney Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "disappointed and hoping the decision had been otherwise".

"I cannot even contest because my represented individuals are away; for that reason I am disheartened," he stated further.

The previous week, Hasina's lawyers said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN highlighting serious fair trial and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial together with her previous domestic affairs official and security forces head.

While the sentence offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may do little to soothe the nation's partisan rifts.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the Awami League has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to news organizations. "Both she and the organization has apologised or shown any remorse for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "This creates challenges for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this nation."

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

"We work with multiple individuals who suffered permanent amputations, they are currently without limbs, 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 increasingly challenging" for her party to become a regular participant of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "there is some kind of apology and a distancing from Hasina and the former hierarchy," he stated.