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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for human rights violations due to her crackdown on student-led protests which resulted in her removal from power.

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the unrest last year.

The trial proceeded while she was absent by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. Hasina has denied all charges, labeling the proceedings as "biased and politically motivated".

This judgment represents a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had called for severe punishments.

Answering the judgment in a five-page statement, she expressed the death penalty was the temporary leadership's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a political force and that she was proud of her government's record on individual freedoms.

"I have no trepidation to confront those accusing me in a fair court where the proof can be evaluated and reviewed impartially."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under enhanced protection prior to the verdict on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and celebrating as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in unrest, with multiple explosives detonated and coaches ignited in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, regional security representative Jisanul Haque told news organizations.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 began with demands to abolish government job quotas but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could constitute "crimes against humanity".

The report documented the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the intentional injuring of additional individuals, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina verified by external reviews in previous months suggested she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the trial.

Ahead of the verdict, family members of those fatally injured in the unrest stated to media representatives they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

A family representative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for her and co-accused who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

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

"Exclusively thereafter the families of those killed [in the protests] will obtain solace in their souls."

Following her removal, an temporary leadership headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A general election is planned for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Awami League, the former ruling party, was banned by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

Hasina warned during the past month that if the her faction's nominees were prohibited from running in the upcoming election, millions would boycott the ballot.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but so far India has expressed no readiness to comply.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer her legal counsel said he was "unhappy and desiring the verdict had been different".

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; for that reason I am disheartened," he added.

The previous week, Hasina's lawyers said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN pointing out serious fair trial and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Hasina was tried in conjunction with her former home minister and security forces head.

While the sentence provides certain resolution to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may do little to soothe the country's political divisions.

"The resentment towards the former leader and the her political party has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told press agencies. "The leader and her faction has apologised or demonstrated contrition for the fatalities of countless citizens."

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

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

"We assist numerous persons who suffered permanent amputations, they are currently without limbs, due to the crackdown. They cannot pardon her."

David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it particularly hard" for her party to become a standard element of Bangladeshi politics again.

This may change if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from Hasina and the old leadership," he expressed.