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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for human rights violations due to her severe measures on student-led protests which led to her ousting.

Hasina was declared culpable of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom lost their lives during the turmoil during 2024.

The trial proceeded while she was absent by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. The former leader rejected every accusation, 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 harmed had called for tough penalties.

Responding to the decision in a detailed document, the former leader stated the capital punishment was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was satisfied of her leadership's history on human rights.

"I have no trepidation to confront those accusing me in a just legal forum where the facts can be assessed and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under enhanced protection before the ruling on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina organizing a demonstration and cheering as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a recent spike in unrest, with numerous incendiary devices set off and public transport vehicles burned in the time before the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, area law enforcement officer Jisanul Haque stated to media outlets.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 began with calls to eliminate government job quotas but evolved into a more extensive dissent initiative.

UN human rights investigators declared in an analysis in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could amount to "violations of human dignity".

The paper detailed the shooting at point-blank range of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, arbitrary arrests and abuse.

Unauthorized recordings of one of Hasina's phone calls verified by investigative sources during the current year implied she had approved the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

Ahead of the verdict, family members of those who died in the demonstrations stated to news agencies they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and abused their power".

A different family member, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "carried out before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their souls."

Since Hasina's ousting, an interim government headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A general election is planned for February 2026.

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

The former leader cautioned in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were banned from standing in the upcoming election, millions would boycott the ballot.

The judgment creates a diplomatic challenge for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her repatriation but until now India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the verdict had been different".

"I cannot even contest because my represented individuals are away; that's why I am sad," he continued.

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 together with her former home minister and top law enforcement officer.

Although the punishment offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The anger against Sheikh Hasina and the her political party has not decreased," a Dhaka-based rights activist stated to press agencies. "Neither she nor the party has said sorry or shown any remorse for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "This complicates matters for the faction to gain approval by a most citizens in this country."

The campaigner further stated that the penalty was not closure for the relatives of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We work with several people who lost their limbs forever, they are currently without limbs, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for Awami League to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This might transform if "there is some kind of apology and a distancing from Hasina and the old leadership," he said.