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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for human rights violations stemming from her harsh response on youth demonstrations which led to her ousting.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the turmoil in the previous year.

Legal proceedings were conducted while she was absent 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. Hasina has denied 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 years of repression. Families of those killed and injured had called for strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the death penalty was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was content of her leadership's history on human rights.

"I do not fear to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under enhanced protection before the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics organizing a demonstration and cheering as the judgment was announced.

The city has seen a sudden increase in unrest, with dozens of bombs exploded and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official the authorities' representative informed press agencies.

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

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

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of others, unwarranted detentions and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina verified by media examinations in previous months suggested she had sanctioned the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

Ahead of the verdict, family members of those who died in the demonstrations told media representatives they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

One relative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for her and co-accused who have "performed revengeful deeds and misused their authority".

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

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

Following her removal, an temporary leadership headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A parliamentary election 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 in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were barred from participating in the upcoming election, millions would boycott the election.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her repatriation but to date India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

Her officially designated attorney the defense lawyer said he was "disappointed and hoping the decision had been otherwise".

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

Last week, Hasina's lawyers said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN raising significant due process and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial together with her ex-interior minister and police chief.

Although the punishment offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not diminished," a Dhaka-based rights activist stated to media outlets. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The activist stated "This complicates matters for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this country."

The activist added that the sentence was not closure for the families of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We support multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, due to the crackdown. They will never be able to forgive her."

David Bergman, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it particularly hard" for the political faction to become a standard element of the country's governance system again.

This could alter if "an expression of regret occurs and a separation from Hasina and the old leadership," he stated.