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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for human rights violations due to her harsh response 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 died during the disturbances during 2024.

Legal proceedings were conducted while she was absent by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being behind numerous deaths during the protests. She has refuted every accusation, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Families of those killed and harmed had called for severe punishments.

Answering the judgment in a detailed document, she expressed the execution sentence was the temporary leadership's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was content of her administration's performance on individual freedoms.

"I am not afraid to meet my challengers in a proper tribunal where the proof can be evaluated and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under increased safeguards ahead of the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and cheering as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a sudden increase in disturbances, with numerous incendiary devices set off and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

One explosive incident was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, regional security representative Jisanul Haque told media outlets.

The protest movement led by students last year began with demands to abolish state employment quotas but evolved into a broader opposition campaign.

United Nations rights examiners said in a report 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 intentional injuring of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls verified by media examinations during the current year suggested she had approved the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the proceedings.

Ahead of the verdict, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations stated to press outlets they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

One relative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for the former leader and associates who have "committed acts of vengeance and exploited their positions".

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

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

Since Hasina's ousting, an temporary leadership headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A general election is planned for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Hasina's political party, her political faction, was prohibited by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

The former leader cautioned last month that if the party's candidates were banned from standing in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the election.

This decision presents a international dilemma for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but until now India has demonstrated no inclination to acquiesce.

Her officially designated attorney the defense lawyer said he was "sad [and wishes] the decision had been otherwise".

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

Last week, Hasina's lawyers said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising significant due process and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

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

Even though the verdict provides certain resolution to kin of victims in the protests, it may do little to soothe the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the Awami League has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed news organizations. "The leader and her faction has said sorry or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

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

The campaigner further stated that the penalty was not closure for the kin of those who died and were wounded.

"We assist several people who lost their limbs forever, they are now disabled, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

David Bergman, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it even more difficult" for the political faction to become a normal feature of the nation's political landscape again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the previous administration," he expressed.