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The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for human rights violations stemming from her severe measures on protests led by students which led to her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against activists, 1,400 of whom died during the disturbances last year.

Legal proceedings were conducted without her presence by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

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

The verdict marks a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over extended periods of oppression. Relatives of the deceased and wounded had demanded tough penalties.

Answering the judgment in a detailed document, she expressed the death penalty was the temporary leadership's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was content of her leadership's history on civil liberties.

"I am not afraid to meet my challengers in a just legal forum where the facts can be assessed and tested fairly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under enhanced protection before the ruling on Monday, with several of her detractors holding a protest and applauding as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in disturbances, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the time before the verdict.

One explosive incident was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, regional security representative the authorities' representative told media outlets.

The protest movement led by students in the previous year started with demands to abolish government job quotas but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners stated in a document in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could constitute "crimes against humanity".

The report documented the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina verified by external reviews in previous months suggested she had approved the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the legal process.

Prior to the ruling, family members of those fatally injured in the unrest stated to media representatives they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

Ramjan Ali, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

Another relative, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "carried out before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the kin of victims [in the protests] will find peace in their hearts."

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

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

She alerted in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, numerous would avoid the ballot.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her return but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to comply.

Her officially designated attorney her legal counsel said he was "sad [and wishes] the outcome had varied".

"I cannot even contest because my defendants are not present; for that reason I am sad," he continued.

Last week, the defense attorneys said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN highlighting serious fair trial and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Hasina was tried in conjunction with her previous domestic affairs official and police chief.

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may not significantly ease the nation's partisan rifts.

"The resentment towards Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not subsided," a human rights advocate from the capital informed media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has apologised or demonstrated contrition for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The advocate declared "This complicates matters for the party to be accepted by a bulk of the population in this country."

The activist added that the sentence was not resolution for the relatives of those who died and were wounded.

"We work with several people who suffered permanent amputations, they are currently without limbs, due to the crackdown. They are incapable of excusing her."

David Bergman, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it even more difficult" for the political faction to become a regular participant of the country's governance system again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a separation from Sheikh Hasina and the previous administration," he stated.