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The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for human rights violations over her crackdown on protests led by students which resulted in her forced departure.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of allowing lethal force to be used against demonstrators, 1,400 of whom were killed during the disturbances in the previous year.

Hasina was tried in absentia by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being behind multiple fatalities during the protests. She has refuted the entire case, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

The verdict marks a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had called for strict sentences.

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, Hasina said the execution sentence was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a governing body and that she was content of her administration's performance on individual freedoms.

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

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under increased safeguards prior to the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and applauding as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a recent spike in unrest, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official the authorities' representative stated to media outlets.

The protest movement led by students in the previous year started with requests to remove government job quotas but transformed into a wider anti-government movement.

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

The study recorded the firing at close quarters of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment.

Leaked audio of one of Hasina's phone calls verified by investigative sources in previous months suggested she had sanctioned the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

Prior to the ruling, family members of those killed during the protests told press outlets they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

A family representative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

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

"Only then the kin of victims [in the protests] will obtain solace in their hearts."

Following her removal, an caretaker administration under the guidance of economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A general election is planned for February 2026.

However, the Hasina's political party, Hasina's political party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

She alerted in the previous month that if the party's candidates were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, millions would boycott the election.

This decision presents a diplomatic challenge for India and Bangladesh. Authorities have sought her return but so far India has demonstrated no inclination to comply.

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

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; for that reason I am disheartened," he stated further.

The previous week, her legal team said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN highlighting major judicial fairness and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her former home minister and top law enforcement officer.

While the sentence grants partial finality to kin of victims in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the country's political divisions.

"The anger against Hasina and the her political party has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed news organizations. "Neither she nor the party has said sorry or demonstrated contrition for the fatalities of countless citizens."

She said "This creates challenges for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this nation."

The campaigner further stated that the sentence was not finality for the families of those who died and were wounded.

"We work with numerous persons who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They will never be able to forgive her."

A journalist, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it increasingly challenging" for the political faction to become a regular participant of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the old leadership," he stated.