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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been given a death sentence for atrocities stemming from her severe measures on protests led by students which resulted in her forced departure.

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

Legal proceedings were conducted in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being behind hundreds of killings during the protests. The former leader rejected all charges, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

This judgment represents a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had called for strict sentences.

Responding to the decision in a detailed document, Hasina said the death penalty was the interim government's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was satisfied of her government's record on human rights.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the proof can be evaluated and tested fairly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards prior to the ruling on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina holding a protest and applauding as the judgment was announced.

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

At least one bomb explosion was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official Jisanul Haque informed media outlets.

The protest movement led by students last year commenced through demands to abolish government job quotas but morphed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

International human rights monitors declared in an analysis in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could amount to "human rights atrocities".

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of some protesters, the intentional injuring of others, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by external reviews earlier this year suggested she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the legal process.

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

One relative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for the former leader and associates who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

Another relative, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "implemented before the election".

"Only then the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their souls."

After her departure, an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A national vote is set for February 2026.

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

Hasina warned last month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the election.

The judgment creates a international dilemma for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her repatriation but to date India has shown no willingness to comply.

The legal representative assigned to her the defense lawyer said he was "unhappy and desiring the outcome had varied".

"I am unable to challenge because my represented individuals are away; for that reason I am sad," he continued.

The previous week, her legal team said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN raising significant due process and due process issues at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her former home minister and police chief.

Although the punishment grants partial finality to kin of victims in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the nation's partisan rifts.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the Awami League has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told press agencies. "The leader and her faction has expressed regret or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

The advocate declared "This creates challenges for the party to be accepted by a majority of people in this state."

The campaigner further stated that the sentence was not closure for the kin of those killed and injured.

"We assist several people who lost their limbs forever, they are currently without limbs, as a result of the harsh measures. They will never be able to forgive her."

A journalist, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it increasingly challenging" for her party to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This might transform if "an expression of regret occurs and a distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the old leadership," he expressed.