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The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for crimes against humanity over her harsh response on protests led by students which resulted in her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against activists, with approximately 1,400 individuals were killed during the turmoil last year.

Hasina was tried in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of hundreds of killings during the protests. Hasina has denied every accusation, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and injured had requested tough penalties.

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, the former leader stated the execution sentence was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was content of her leadership's history on human rights.

"I have no trepidation to confront those accusing me in a just legal forum where the proof can be evaluated and tested fairly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under enhanced protection prior to the verdict on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and applauding as the judgment was announced.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in turmoil, with numerous incendiary devices set off and public transport vehicles burned in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, area law enforcement officer the authorities' representative stated to press agencies.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 started with requests to remove state employment quotas but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

UN human rights investigators declared in an analysis in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could amount to "human rights atrocities".

The paper detailed the firing at close quarters of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and abuse.

Unauthorized recordings of a call made by the former leader confirmed by media examinations during the current year implied she had sanctioned the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the proceedings.

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

A family representative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for her and co-accused who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

A different family member, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "executed before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will obtain solace in their minds."

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

Nevertheless, the Awami League, her political faction, was prohibited by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

Hasina warned in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were banned from standing in the upcoming election, millions would boycott the vote.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but to date India has expressed no readiness to agree.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the verdict had been different".

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; that's why I am disappointed," he stated further.

Last week, her legal team said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN highlighting significant due process and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Hasina was tried in conjunction with her previous domestic affairs official and security forces head.

Even though the verdict provides certain resolution to families of killed in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the country's political divisions.

"The anger against Hasina and the Awami League has not subsided," a Dhaka-based rights activist told news organizations. "Neither she nor the party has said sorry or shown any remorse 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 country."

The advocate continued that the sentence was not finality for the relatives 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 are incapable of excusing her."

An analyst, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it particularly hard" for her party to become a normal feature of the nation's political landscape again.

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