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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been given a death sentence for human rights violations due to her crackdown on student-led protests which led to her removal from power.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of permitting fatal actions to be used against activists, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the unrest during 2024.

The trial proceeded in absentia by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being the mastermind of numerous deaths during the protests. Hasina has denied the entire case, describing the process as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The verdict marks a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Relatives of the deceased and harmed had demanded severe punishments.

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

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

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards ahead of the decision on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally and celebrating as the sentence was declared.

The capital witnessed a recent spike in disturbances, with multiple explosives detonated and coaches ignited in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, area law enforcement officer Jisanul Haque informed media outlets.

The student-led uprising in the previous year began with demands to abolish state employment quotas but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

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

The study recorded the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of others, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment.

Disclosed sound files of a call made by the former leader confirmed by external reviews in previous months suggested she had sanctioned the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the trial.

Prior to the ruling, kin of those who died in the demonstrations stated to news agencies they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for Hasina and others who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

A different family member, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "executed before the election".

"Solely at that point the kin of victims [in the protests] will obtain solace in their minds."

Following her removal, an caretaker administration headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

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

She alerted in the previous month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the ballot.

The judgment creates a international dilemma for India and Bangladesh. Authorities have sought her repatriation but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to acquiesce.

The legal representative assigned to her Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "sad [and wishes] the outcome had varied".

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; that's why I am sad," he stated further.

Recently, her legal team said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN raising 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.

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to families of killed in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the her political party has not subsided," a Dhaka-based rights activist stated to media outlets. "The leader and her faction has expressed regret or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "This complicates matters for the party to be accepted by a bulk of the population in this country."

The advocate continued that the penalty was not closure for the kin of those killed and injured.

"We support several people who lost their limbs forever, they are currently without limbs, due to the crackdown. They are incapable of excusing her."

An analyst, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it particularly hard" for her party to become a normal feature of the nation's political landscape again.

This could alter if "an expression of regret occurs and a disassociation with the former leader and the former hierarchy," he expressed.