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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been given a death sentence for crimes against humanity due to her severe measures on youth demonstrations which resulted in her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people died during the unrest during 2024.

Hasina was tried in absentia 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 multiple fatalities during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, describing the process as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had demanded tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the capital punishment was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was proud of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I do not fear to meet my challengers in a proper tribunal where the proof can be evaluated and reviewed impartially."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under enhanced protection ahead of the ruling on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and celebrating as the judgment was announced.

The city has seen a notable rise in unrest, with multiple explosives detonated and coaches ignited in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, regional security representative the authorities' representative informed news organizations.

The youth-driven revolt in the previous year began with demands to abolish state employment quotas but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

UN human rights investigators declared in an analysis in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could amount to "violations of human dignity".

The study recorded the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, arbitrary arrests and abuse.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by external reviews in previous months implied she had authorized the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

Prior to the ruling, relatives of those fatally injured in the unrest informed news agencies they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

A family representative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for the former leader and associates who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and abused their power".

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".

"Solely at that point the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

Since Hasina's ousting, an caretaker administration under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A general election is set for February 2026.

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

Hasina warned during the past month that if the party's candidates were banned from standing in the imminent electoral process, millions would boycott the election.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but until now India has expressed no readiness to comply.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer her legal counsel said he was "sad [and wishes] the outcome had varied".

"I am unable to challenge because my defendants are not present; that's why I am sad," he added.

Recently, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN highlighting major judicial fairness and judicial process problems at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial in conjunction with her former home minister and security forces head.

Although the punishment provides certain resolution to families of killed in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The resentment towards the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not decreased," a Dhaka-based rights activist stated to press agencies. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or demonstrated contrition for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a bulk of the population in this state."

The advocate continued that the sentence was not closure for the families of those who died and were wounded.

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

A journalist, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it even more difficult" for her party to become a standard element of Bangladeshi politics again.

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