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The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for human rights violations over her crackdown on student-led protests which caused her removal from power.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of authorizing deadly measures to be used against demonstrators, 1,400 of whom lost their lives during the turmoil in the previous year.

Hasina was tried without her presence by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being behind multiple fatalities during the protests. She has refuted all charges, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

The decision signifies a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over years of repression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had called for strict sentences.

Answering the judgment in a five-page statement, she expressed the capital punishment was the interim government's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was satisfied of her government's record on individual freedoms.

"I do not fear to face my accusers in a fair court where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under increased safeguards prior to the decision on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and applauding as the sentence was declared.

The capital witnessed a recent spike in unrest, with numerous incendiary devices set off and coaches ignited in the time before the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official the authorities' representative told press agencies.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 started with requests to remove state employment quotas but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

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

The study recorded the firing at close quarters of certain demonstrators, the purposeful disabling of others, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Disclosed sound files of a call made by the former leader authenticated by external reviews 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.

Ahead of the verdict, kin of those killed during the protests informed news agencies they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

A family representative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "performed revengeful deeds and exploited their positions".

Lucky Akther, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "carried out before the election".

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

Following her removal, an interim government under the guidance of economist Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the her former political organization, Hasina's political party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

She alerted during the past month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the forthcoming vote, millions would boycott the vote.

The verdict now poses a international dilemma for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but until now India has shown no willingness to acquiesce.

Her officially designated attorney her legal counsel said he was "disappointed and hoping the verdict had been different".

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

Recently, her legal team said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN pointing out major judicial fairness and due process issues at the ICT.

Hasina was tried in conjunction with her ex-interior minister and top law enforcement officer.

Although the punishment offers some closure to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may do little to soothe the country's political divisions.

"The fury directed at Hasina and the her political party has not diminished," a Dhaka-based rights activist told media outlets. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or shown any remorse for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The activist stated "This creates challenges for the faction to gain approval by a majority of people in this nation."

The advocate continued that the punishment was not finality for the kin of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We support multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it increasingly challenging" for her party to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This may change if "a form of contrition emerges and a separation from Sheikh Hasina and the old leadership," he expressed.