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The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for atrocities stemming from her severe measures on student-led protests which led to her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom lost their lives during the unrest in the previous year.

Hasina was tried without her presence by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of numerous deaths during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The verdict marks a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over years of repression. Families of those killed and harmed had called for severe punishments.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, Hasina said the death penalty was the interim government's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a political force and that she was satisfied of her leadership's history on civil liberties.

"I have no trepidation to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the facts can be assessed and tested fairly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under tightened security before the decision on Monday, with several of her detractors holding a protest and applauding as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in disturbances, with numerous incendiary devices set off and public transport vehicles burned in the time before the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, regional security representative the authorities' representative stated to news organizations.

The protest movement led by students last year started with demands to abolish state employment quotas but morphed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

UN human rights investigators said in a report in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could represent "human rights atrocities".

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the intentional injuring of further participants, unwarranted detentions and torture.

Leaked audio of a call made by the former leader confirmed by media examinations during the current year suggested she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the proceedings.

Prior to the ruling, kin of those killed during the protests told news agencies they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

A family representative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for Hasina and others who have "performed revengeful deeds and exploited their positions".

Another relative, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "implemented before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will achieve closure in their hearts."

Following her removal, an interim government headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

However, the her former political organization, the former ruling party, was banned by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

She alerted last month that if the party's candidates were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, numerous would avoid the ballot.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but so far India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

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

"I cannot even contest because my clients are absent; that's why I am disheartened," he stated further.

Recently, Hasina's lawyers said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN pointing out major judicial fairness and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Hasina was tried together with her former home minister and security forces head.

Although the punishment offers some closure to relatives of the deceased 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 decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to news organizations. "Both she and the organization has apologised or shown any remorse for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "This complicates matters for the organization to receive endorsement by a majority of people in this nation."

The campaigner further stated that the sentence was not finality for the relatives of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We assist several people who suffered permanent amputations, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it particularly hard" for her party to become a regular participant of Bangladeshi politics again.

This might transform if "there is some kind of apology and a separation from Hasina and the old leadership," he said.