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The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for crimes against humanity over her crackdown on protests led by students which resulted in her removal from power.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the disturbances in the previous year.

Legal proceedings were conducted without her presence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being behind hundreds of killings during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, labeling the proceedings as "biased and politically motivated".

The decision signifies a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over extended periods of oppression. Families of those killed and injured had called for severe punishments.

Responding to the decision in a detailed document, she expressed the execution sentence was the temporary leadership's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was proud of her administration's performance on individual freedoms.

"I have no trepidation to meet my challengers in a just legal forum where the facts can be assessed and examined justly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under tightened security prior to the verdict on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and celebrating as the verdict was read.

The city has seen a notable rise in unrest, with dozens of bombs exploded and buses set on fire in the period preceding the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police official the authorities' representative told media outlets.

The youth-driven revolt last year started with calls to eliminate government job quotas but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could constitute "human rights atrocities".

The study recorded the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, unwarranted detentions and mistreatment.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by media examinations earlier this year implied she had approved the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

Before the decision, relatives of those killed during the protests told media representatives they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

One relative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

Lucky Akther, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "executed before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the kin of victims [in the protests] will obtain solace in their minds."

Since Hasina's ousting, an temporary leadership under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Hasina's political party, the former ruling party, was banned by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

The former leader cautioned during the past month that if the party's candidates were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the election.

The judgment creates a diplomatic challenge for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but until now India has expressed no readiness to comply.

Her officially designated attorney Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "disappointed and hoping the verdict had been different".

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

Last week, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN pointing out major judicial fairness and judicial process problems at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial together with her former home minister and security forces head.

While the sentence grants partial finality to kin of victims in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the country's political divisions.

"The anger against the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to media outlets. "The leader and her faction has expressed regret or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The activist stated "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this country."

The campaigner further stated that the sentence was not finality for the families of those who died and were wounded.

"We work with multiple individuals who lost their limbs forever, they are currently without limbs, due to the crackdown. They are incapable of excusing her."

A journalist, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it particularly hard" for Awami League to become a standard element 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 former hierarchy," he stated.