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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been given a death sentence for crimes against humanity stemming from her severe measures on student-led protests which resulted in her forced departure.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of authorizing deadly measures to be used against demonstrators, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the disturbances in the previous year.

The trial proceeded without her presence by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being behind numerous deaths during the protests. Hasina has denied all charges, calling the trial as "unfair and agenda-driven".

This judgment represents a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Families of those killed and injured had called for strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the death penalty was the temporary leadership's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a political force and that she was proud of her government's record on civil liberties.

"I am not afraid 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 court convened, was under increased safeguards prior to the verdict on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and cheering as the judgment was announced.

Dhaka experienced a recent spike in disturbances, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the period preceding the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, area law enforcement officer the police spokesperson stated to media outlets.

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

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could amount to "violations of human dignity".

The study recorded the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the intentional injuring of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and abuse.

Unauthorized recordings of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by media examinations during the current year implied she had sanctioned the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the legal process.

Prior to the ruling, family members of those who died in the demonstrations told press outlets they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

A family representative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for her and co-accused who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and exploited their positions".

Lucky Akther, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "executed before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the families of those killed [in the protests] will achieve closure in their hearts."

Since Hasina's ousting, an interim government headed by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

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

She alerted during the past month that if the the League's representatives were banned from standing in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the election.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. Authorities have sought her repatriation but until now India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

Her officially designated attorney Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the outcome had varied".

"I cannot even contest because my defendants are not present; that's why I am sad," he continued.

The previous week, her legal team said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN raising significant due process and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina together with her ex-interior minister and top law enforcement officer.

While the sentence grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told press agencies. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or displayed repentance for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The advocate declared "It makes it difficult for the organization to receive endorsement by a most citizens in this state."

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

"We assist multiple individuals who lost their limbs forever, they are currently without limbs, due to the crackdown. They cannot pardon her."

David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it particularly hard" for Awami League to become a standard element of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a separation from Hasina and the previous administration," he said.