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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been given a death sentence for human rights violations stemming from her severe measures on protests led by students which caused her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against demonstrators, 1,400 of whom lost their lives during the disturbances during 2024.

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.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of numerous deaths during the protests. The former leader rejected all charges, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had demanded strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, she expressed the execution sentence was the interim government's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was content of her government's record on individual freedoms.

"I have no trepidation to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where the proof can be evaluated and reviewed impartially."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under enhanced protection ahead of the ruling on Monday, with several of her detractors organizing a demonstration and celebrating as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a recent spike in unrest, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the period preceding the verdict.

One explosive incident was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police official the police spokesperson told press agencies.

The student-led uprising in the previous year commenced through requests to remove government job quotas but evolved into a broader opposition campaign.

UN human rights investigators declared in an analysis in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could represent "crimes against humanity".

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of some protesters, the purposeful disabling of additional individuals, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Disclosed sound files of a call made by the former leader authenticated by investigative sources during the current year indicated she had authorized the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the proceedings.

Before the decision, family members of those who died in the demonstrations informed news agencies they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

A family representative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

Another relative, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "carried out before the election".

"Only then the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will find peace in their minds."

Since Hasina's ousting, an interim government led by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the her former political organization, her political faction, was outlawed by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

Hasina warned last month that if the her faction's nominees were banned from standing in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the election.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but so far India has demonstrated no inclination to acquiesce.

The legal representative assigned to her her legal counsel said he was "sad [and wishes] the decision had been otherwise".

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

Last week, the defense attorneys said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN raising significant due process and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina alongside her ex-interior minister and top law enforcement officer.

While the sentence grants partial finality to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the nation's partisan rifts.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not decreased," a human rights advocate from the capital informed news organizations. "Neither she nor the party has expressed regret or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

The advocate declared "This complicates matters for the faction to gain approval by a bulk of the population in this nation."

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

"We support several people who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, due to the crackdown. They will never be able to forgive her."

An analyst, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it particularly hard" for the political faction to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This may change if "there is some kind of apology and a disassociation with the former leader and the old leadership," he said.