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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been given a death sentence for atrocities due to her harsh response on student-led protests which led to her forced departure.

Hasina was declared culpable of authorizing deadly measures to be used against activists, 1,400 of whom were killed during the unrest during 2024.

Legal proceedings were conducted without her presence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being behind hundreds of killings during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, describing the process as "biased and politically motivated".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had called for tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, the former leader stated the capital punishment was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a governing body and that she was content of her administration's performance on civil liberties.

"I do not fear to meet my challengers in a fair court where the evidence can be weighed and reviewed impartially."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under enhanced protection ahead of the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and cheering as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a sudden increase 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 noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, regional security representative the authorities' representative told press agencies.

The student-led uprising in the previous year began with calls to eliminate state employment quotas but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

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

The study recorded the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the intentional injuring of others, unwarranted detentions and abuse.

Leaked audio of one of Hasina's phone calls confirmed by investigative sources earlier this year indicated she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the proceedings.

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

One relative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and abused their power".

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

"Solely at that point the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their souls."

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

However, the Hasina's political party, the former ruling party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

She alerted last month that if the party's candidates were banned from standing in the forthcoming vote, millions would boycott the election.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for both nations. Authorities have sought her extradition but so far India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

The legal representative assigned to her the defense lawyer said he was "unhappy and desiring the verdict had been different".

"I even cannot appeal because my represented individuals are away; which is why I am disheartened," he continued.

Recently, Hasina's lawyers said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN raising major judicial fairness and due process issues at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina alongside her former home minister and police chief.

Even though the verdict provides certain resolution to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the Awami League has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told news organizations. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or displayed repentance for the fatalities of countless citizens."

She said "This complicates matters for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this state."

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

"We work with multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, as a result of the harsh measures. They cannot pardon her."

David Bergman, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it particularly hard" for her party to become a normal feature of the country's governance system again.

This could alter if "there is some kind of apology and a distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the old leadership," he said.