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The country's previous leader has been handed capital punishment for human rights violations over her severe measures on protests led by students which led to her removal from power.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against activists, among whom around 1,400 people died during the unrest in the previous year.

Legal proceedings were conducted while she was absent by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being behind hundreds of killings during the protests. She has refuted all charges, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

The decision signifies a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Relatives of the deceased and wounded had called for tough penalties.

Answering the judgment in a five-page statement, she expressed the death penalty was the caretaker administration's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a political force and that she was content of her government's record on human rights.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where the proof can be evaluated and examined justly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under increased safeguards ahead of the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and applauding as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a notable rise in unrest, with numerous incendiary devices set off and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, regional security representative Jisanul Haque informed news organizations.

The protest movement led by students in the previous year began with calls to eliminate state employment quotas but evolved into a more extensive dissent initiative.

International human rights monitors said in a report in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could amount to "violations of human dignity".

The report documented the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by media examinations earlier this year suggested 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 fatally injured in the unrest informed media representatives they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

A family representative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for the former leader and associates who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and abused their power".

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

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

Since Hasina's ousting, an caretaker administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A parliamentary election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the her former political organization, Hasina's political party, was banned by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

The former leader cautioned during the past month that if the her faction's nominees were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, numerous would avoid the vote.

The verdict now poses a international dilemma for both nations. Authorities have sought her repatriation but so far India has shown no willingness to comply.

The legal representative assigned to her her legal counsel said he was "unhappy and desiring the outcome had varied".

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; that's why I am disappointed," he continued.

Recently, her legal team said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN raising significant due process and due process issues at the ICT.

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

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to families of killed in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the state's ideological splits.

"The anger against the former leader and the Awami League has not decreased," a Dhaka-based rights activist informed media outlets. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

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

The activist added that the sentence was not finality for the kin of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We assist multiple individuals who suffered permanent amputations, they are amputees now, because of the suppression. They will never be able to forgive her."

A journalist, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it even more difficult" for Awami League to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from the former leader and the old leadership," he expressed.