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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been handed capital punishment for atrocities due to her crackdown on protests led by students which caused her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against activists, with approximately 1,400 individuals died during the disturbances during 2024.

Legal proceedings were conducted without her presence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. The former leader rejected every accusation, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

This judgment represents a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over long-standing suppression. Relatives of the deceased and wounded had demanded tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, she expressed the capital punishment was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was content of her leadership's history on human rights.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and reviewed impartially."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards ahead of the ruling on Monday, with several of her detractors holding a protest and celebrating as the judgment was announced.

The city has seen a recent spike in unrest, with dozens of bombs exploded and coaches ignited in the time before the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police official Jisanul Haque stated to media outlets.

The protest movement led by students in the previous year commenced through calls to eliminate public sector reservation policies but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

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

The paper detailed the firing at close quarters of some protesters, the intentional injuring of others, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls confirmed by external reviews earlier this year implied she had approved the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the legal process.

Prior to the ruling, kin of those who died in the demonstrations informed media representatives they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for Hasina and others 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 her penalty to be "executed before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the kin of victims [in the protests] will find peace in their hearts."

Following her removal, an caretaker administration headed by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A parliamentary election is planned for February 2026.

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

She alerted in the previous month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the upcoming election, numerous would avoid the ballot.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her repatriation but to date India has expressed no readiness to agree.

The legal representative assigned to her Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the verdict had been different".

"I am unable to challenge because my clients are absent; which is why I am disappointed," he continued.

Recently, Hasina's lawyers said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN highlighting major judicial fairness and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina in conjunction with her ex-interior minister and top law enforcement officer.

Even though the verdict offers some closure to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may do little to soothe the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the her political party has not subsided," a human rights advocate from the capital told media outlets. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or demonstrated contrition for the deaths of numerous individuals."

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

The advocate continued that the sentence was not resolution for the relatives of those who died and were wounded.

"We support numerous persons who lost their limbs forever, they are now disabled, because of the suppression. They are incapable of excusing her."

A journalist, 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 standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This may change if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from the former leader and the previous administration," he stated.