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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been given a death sentence for crimes against humanity stemming from her severe measures on youth demonstrations which caused her removal from power.

Hasina was declared culpable of authorizing deadly measures to be used against demonstrators, among whom around 1,400 people lost their lives during the disturbances last year.

The trial proceeded in absentia by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being responsible for hundreds of killings during the protests. The former leader rejected every accusation, labeling the proceedings as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over extended periods of oppression. Families of those killed and injured had called for strict sentences.

Answering the judgment in a comprehensive declaration, the former leader stated the death penalty was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was proud of her government's record on individual freedoms.

"I do not fear to meet my challengers in a just legal forum where the proof can be evaluated and reviewed impartially."

The capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under increased safeguards ahead of the decision on Monday, with several of her detractors organizing a demonstration and celebrating as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in turmoil, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the time before the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, area law enforcement officer the police spokesperson informed press agencies.

The student-led uprising last year commenced through demands to abolish public sector reservation policies but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

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

The report documented the firing at close quarters of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Unauthorized recordings of a call made by the former leader verified by media examinations earlier this year suggested she had approved the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

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

A family representative, 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 misused their authority".

Another relative, whose husband was killed 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 achieve closure in their minds."

After her departure, an temporary leadership led by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Awami League, Hasina's political party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

She alerted during the past month that if the party's candidates were barred from participating in the upcoming election, millions would boycott the election.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but until now India has demonstrated no inclination to comply.

The legal representative assigned to her her legal counsel said he was "disappointed and hoping the verdict had been different".

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; for that reason I am sad," he stated further.

The previous week, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN highlighting serious fair trial and judicial process problems at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial together with her ex-interior minister and police chief.

Even though the verdict offers some closure to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told news organizations. "Neither she nor the party has expressed regret or demonstrated contrition for the deaths of numerous individuals."

She said "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this country."

The activist added that the punishment was not resolution for the relatives of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We work with multiple individuals who suffered permanent amputations, they are currently without limbs, as a result of the harsh measures. They cannot pardon her."

David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it even more difficult" for the political faction to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "there is some kind of apology and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the former hierarchy," he said.