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The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for atrocities due to her crackdown on protests led by students which led to her forced departure.

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against demonstrators, among whom around 1,400 people died 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 since she was forced from power in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being behind multiple fatalities during the protests. Hasina has denied the entire case, labeling the proceedings as "biased and politically motivated".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Relatives of the deceased and injured had requested severe punishments.

Answering the judgment in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the execution sentence was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was proud of her administration's performance on human rights.

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

The capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under tightened security ahead of the verdict on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and celebrating as the judgment was announced.

The city has seen a recent spike in turmoil, with dozens of bombs exploded and public transport vehicles burned 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 Jisanul Haque stated to news organizations.

The protest movement led by students last year began 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 constitute "crimes against humanity".

The study recorded the firing at close quarters of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of others, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment.

Disclosed sound files of a call made by the former leader confirmed by external reviews earlier this year indicated she had approved the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the proceedings.

Before the decision, kin of those killed during the protests stated to media representatives they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

A family representative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for the former leader and associates who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and abused their power".

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

"Solely at that point the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

Following her removal, an caretaker administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

However, the her former political organization, her political faction, was outlawed by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

The former leader cautioned last month that if the the League's representatives were barred from participating in the forthcoming vote, numerous would avoid the vote.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but until now India has expressed no readiness to comply.

Her officially designated attorney her legal counsel said he was "unhappy and desiring the outcome had varied".

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

Last week, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising significant due process and judicial process problems at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial together with her ex-interior minister and security forces head.

Although the punishment offers some closure to families of killed in the protests, it may do little to soothe the nation's partisan rifts.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the her political party has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told news organizations. "The leader and her faction has apologised or displayed repentance for the killings of hundreds of people."

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

The activist added that the penalty was not finality for the relatives of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We work with multiple individuals who suffered permanent amputations, they are currently without limbs, as a result of the harsh measures. They are incapable of excusing her."

An analyst, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for Awami League to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the previous administration," he said.