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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for human rights violations stemming from her severe measures on youth demonstrations which caused her removal from power.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, with approximately 1,400 individuals died during the disturbances last year.

Hasina was tried in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being the mastermind of hundreds of killings during the protests. The former leader rejected all charges, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and injured had called for tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, she expressed the capital punishment was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was satisfied of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I do not fear to confront those accusing me in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and reviewed impartially."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under increased safeguards before the decision on Monday, with several of her detractors organizing a demonstration and celebrating as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a sudden increase in disturbances, with dozens of bombs exploded and coaches ignited in the period preceding the verdict.

One explosive incident was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official the authorities' representative informed press agencies.

The youth-driven revolt during 2024 began with demands to abolish state employment quotas but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

International human rights monitors declared in an analysis in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could amount to "human rights atrocities".

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls verified by investigative sources during the current year suggested she had authorized the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

Ahead of the verdict, kin of those fatally injured in the unrest stated to media representatives they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for the former leader and associates who have "committed acts of vengeance and abused their power".

Lucky Akther, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "carried out before the election".

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

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

However, the Awami League, her political faction, was prohibited by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

She alerted last month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the imminent electoral process, millions would boycott the vote.

The judgment creates a diplomatic challenge for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her repatriation but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer the defense lawyer said he was "unhappy and desiring the decision had been otherwise".

"I even cannot appeal because my represented individuals are away; that's why I am sad," he stated further.

Recently, the defense attorneys said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN pointing out serious fair trial and due process issues at the ICT.

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

Although the punishment offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the state's ideological splits.

"The resentment towards Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has said sorry or shown any remorse for the deaths of numerous individuals."

She said "This complicates matters for the faction to gain approval by a majority of people in this country."

The campaigner further stated that the penalty was not closure for the families of those killed and injured.

"We work with numerous persons who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are currently without limbs, because of the suppression. They will never be able to forgive her."

A journalist, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for the political faction to become a normal feature of the country's governance system again.

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