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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been handed capital punishment for crimes against humanity stemming from her crackdown on student-led protests which resulted in her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against demonstrators, with approximately 1,400 individuals were killed during the disturbances during 2024.

Hasina was tried without her presence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being behind hundreds of killings during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

The decision signifies a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Relatives of the deceased and harmed had requested tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, the former leader stated the death penalty was the temporary leadership's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was satisfied of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

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

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under enhanced protection prior to the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors organizing a demonstration and cheering as the judgment was announced.

Dhaka experienced a sudden increase in turmoil, with numerous incendiary devices set off and coaches ignited in the days leading up to the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, regional security representative Jisanul Haque told media outlets.

The student-led uprising in the previous year began with calls to eliminate government job quotas but transformed into a wider anti-government movement.

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

The study recorded the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of others, unwarranted detentions and torture.

Leaked audio of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by media examinations earlier this year implied she had approved the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the trial.

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

One relative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for Hasina and others who have "performed revengeful deeds and abused their power".

Another relative, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "executed before the election".

"Solely at that point the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will find peace in their souls."

Following her removal, an caretaker administration headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A national vote is scheduled for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the her former political organization, her political faction, was outlawed by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

Hasina warned last month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the forthcoming vote, millions would boycott the election.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. The Bangladesh government has asked her repatriation but to date India has expressed no readiness to agree.

Her officially designated attorney Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the outcome had varied".

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; that's why I am disheartened," he added.

Last week, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising serious fair trial and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial together with her former home minister and police chief.

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

"The fury directed at Hasina and the Awami League has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told media outlets. "Both she and the organization has apologised or shown any remorse for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The advocate declared "This creates challenges for the organization to receive endorsement by a majority of people in this state."

The activist added that the sentence was not closure for the kin of those killed and injured.

"We assist numerous persons who lost their limbs forever, they are currently without limbs, as a result of the harsh measures. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it particularly hard" for the political faction to become a normal feature of the nation's political landscape again.

This might transform if "an expression of regret occurs and a disassociation with the former leader and the previous administration," he expressed.