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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 caused her removal from power.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people died during the disturbances last year.

Hasina was tried 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 behind multiple fatalities during the protests. The former leader rejected all charges, describing the process as "biased and politically motivated".

This judgment represents a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Families of those killed and harmed had requested severe punishments.

Answering the judgment in a detailed document, she expressed the death penalty was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was content of her administration's performance on human rights.

"I have no trepidation to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security before the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics organizing a demonstration and cheering as the sentence was declared.

Dhaka experienced a recent spike in unrest, with numerous incendiary devices set off and coaches ignited in the days leading up to the verdict.

One explosive incident was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official Jisanul Haque stated to news organizations.

The student-led uprising last year commenced through demands to abolish state employment quotas but transformed into a broader opposition campaign.

International human rights monitors stated in a document in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could constitute "human rights atrocities".

The report documented the firing at close quarters of some protesters, the intentional injuring of further participants, unwarranted detentions and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by external reviews in previous months indicated she had approved the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the legal process.

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

A family representative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for the former leader and associates who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

A different family member, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "carried out before the election".

"Only then the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will find peace in their souls."

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

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

The former leader cautioned during the past month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, millions would boycott the vote.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. Authorities have sought her return but so far India has shown no willingness to acquiesce.

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

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

Last week, her legal team said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN highlighting major judicial fairness and due process issues at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial alongside her previous domestic affairs official and top law enforcement officer.

Even though the verdict offers some closure to families of killed in the protests, it may not significantly ease the nation's partisan rifts.

"The resentment towards the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not decreased," a human rights advocate from the capital stated to media outlets. "Both she and the organization has expressed regret or demonstrated contrition for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The activist stated "This complicates matters for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this state."

The advocate continued that the punishment was not resolution for the kin of those who died and were wounded.

"We work with numerous persons who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, due to the crackdown. They cannot pardon her."

A journalist, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it even more difficult" for Awami League to become a standard element of the country's governance system again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the previous administration," he stated.