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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for human rights violations stemming from her harsh response on student-led protests which resulted in her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against demonstrators, with approximately 1,400 individuals lost their lives during the turmoil during 2024.

Legal proceedings were conducted while she was absent by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of numerous deaths during the protests. She has refuted all charges, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

The verdict marks a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Relatives of the deceased and harmed had demanded tough penalties.

Responding to the decision in a detailed document, Hasina said the capital punishment was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was proud of her administration's performance on civil liberties.

"I have no trepidation to face my accusers in a fair court where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under enhanced protection prior to the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and celebrating as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a sudden increase in turmoil, with numerous incendiary devices set off and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official the authorities' representative told press agencies.

The student-led uprising last year started with calls to eliminate public sector reservation policies but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

International human rights monitors stated in a document in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could represent "violations of human dignity".

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the intentional injuring of additional individuals, arbitrary arrests and abuse.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls confirmed by investigative sources during the current year indicated she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the proceedings.

Ahead of the verdict, kin of those who died in the demonstrations told news agencies they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

A family representative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for her and co-accused who have "performed revengeful deeds and exploited their positions".

Another relative, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "executed before the election".

"Solely at that point the families of those killed [in the protests] will achieve closure in their hearts."

Following her removal, an caretaker administration headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Awami League, the former ruling party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

She alerted during the past month that if the the League's representatives were barred from participating in the imminent electoral process, millions would boycott the vote.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but so far India has shown no willingness to agree.

The legal representative assigned to her her legal counsel said he was "unhappy and desiring the verdict had been different".

"I am unable to challenge because my clients are absent; which is why I am disheartened," he continued.

The previous week, Hasina's lawyers said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN highlighting significant due process and judicial process problems at the ICT.

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

While the sentence offers some closure to families of killed in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the nation's partisan rifts.

"The anger against the former leader and the her political party has not diminished," a human rights advocate from the capital informed press agencies. "Both she and the organization has apologised or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."

She said "It makes it difficult for the organization to receive endorsement by a most citizens in this nation."

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

"We support several people who lost their limbs forever, they are now disabled, 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 particularly hard" for her party to become a normal feature of the country's governance system again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from the former leader and the former hierarchy," he stated.