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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been given a death sentence for crimes against humanity due to her crackdown on protests led by students which resulted in her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the disturbances during 2024.

Legal proceedings were conducted in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being responsible for hundreds of killings during the protests. She has refuted all charges, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

This judgment represents a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over long-standing suppression. Families of those killed and wounded had demanded severe punishments.

Responding to the decision in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the death penalty was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was content of her administration's performance on human rights.

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

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security before the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally and applauding as the sentence was declared.

The capital witnessed a recent spike in disturbances, with numerous incendiary devices set off and coaches ignited in the time before the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official the authorities' representative stated to news organizations.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 started with requests to remove public sector reservation policies but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

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

The paper detailed the firing at close quarters of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of others, unwarranted detentions and mistreatment.

Leaked audio of a call made by the former leader authenticated by media examinations in previous months indicated she had sanctioned the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

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

A family representative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for her and co-accused who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

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

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

Following her removal, an temporary leadership headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

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

She alerted in the previous month that if the party's candidates were prohibited from running 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 until now India has shown no willingness to agree.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "sad [and wishes] the verdict had been different".

"I am unable to challenge because my represented individuals are away; which is why I am disheartened," he stated further.

Recently, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN highlighting major judicial fairness and due process issues at the ICT.

Hasina was tried in conjunction with her ex-interior minister and security forces head.

Although the punishment grants partial finality to kin of victims in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the state's ideological splits.

"The anger against the former leader and the her political party has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed media outlets. "Both she and the organization has apologised or demonstrated contrition for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The activist stated "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a bulk of the population in this state."

The activist added that the sentence was not resolution for the families of those killed and injured.

"We assist numerous persons who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, due to the crackdown. They cannot pardon 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 normal feature of the country's governance system again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a separation from the former leader and the old leadership," he expressed.