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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for atrocities due to her harsh response on protests led by students which resulted in her forced departure.

Hasina was declared culpable of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the disturbances last year.

The trial proceeded while she was absent by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being behind multiple fatalities during the protests. She has refuted the entire case, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had called for severe punishments.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, she expressed the execution sentence was the temporary leadership's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was satisfied of her administration's performance on individual freedoms.

"I have no trepidation to meet my challengers in a fair court where the proof can be evaluated and tested fairly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under increased safeguards before the verdict on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and celebrating as the sentence was declared.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in disturbances, with multiple explosives detonated and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

One explosive incident was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, area law enforcement officer the authorities' representative informed news organizations.

The youth-driven revolt last year commenced through demands to abolish government job quotas but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

International human rights monitors said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could constitute "human rights atrocities".

The study recorded the gunfire from minimal distance of some protesters, the deliberate maiming of further participants, unwarranted detentions and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of a call made by the former leader confirmed by media examinations during the current year implied she had authorized the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the legal process.

Before the decision, kin of those killed during the protests told media representatives they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for Hasina and others who have "committed acts of vengeance and exploited their positions".

Another relative, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "implemented before the election".

"Only then the families of those killed [in the protests] will obtain solace in their hearts."

Since Hasina's ousting, an interim government headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A general election is planned for February 2026.

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

She alerted during the past month that if the her faction's nominees were banned from standing in the imminent electoral process, millions would boycott the vote.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her repatriation but so far India has shown no willingness to comply.

The legal representative assigned to her the defense lawyer said he was "disappointed and hoping the decision had been otherwise".

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

Last week, the defense attorneys said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN pointing out serious fair trial and due process issues at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her former home minister and police chief.

Although the punishment provides certain resolution to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may do little to soothe the state's ideological splits.

"The resentment towards Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed news organizations. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or displayed repentance for the killings of hundreds of people."

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

The advocate continued that the penalty was not finality for the families of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We assist numerous persons who underwent irreversible limb loss, 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 "very nature of the conviction could make it even more difficult" for Awami League to become a standard element of Bangladeshi politics again.

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