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The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for human rights violations due to her severe measures on protests led by students which led to her ousting.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of allowing lethal force to be used against activists, among whom around 1,400 people lost their lives during the disturbances during 2024.

The trial proceeded in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being responsible for multiple fatalities during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over long-standing suppression. Families of those killed and wounded had requested strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, Hasina said the execution sentence was the interim government's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was content of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I am not afraid to meet my challengers in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under enhanced protection ahead of the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics organizing a demonstration and celebrating as the judgment was announced.

Dhaka experienced a sudden increase in unrest, with numerous incendiary devices set off and coaches ignited in the time before the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official Jisanul Haque informed media outlets.

The protest movement led by students last year commenced through calls to eliminate government job quotas but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

United Nations rights examiners said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could constitute "violations of human dignity".

The study recorded the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Unauthorized recordings of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by external reviews during the current year indicated she had approved the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

Before the decision, family members of those who died in the demonstrations stated to news agencies they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

A family representative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for her and co-accused who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and exploited their positions".

Lucky Akther, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "implemented before the election".

"Only then the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will obtain solace in their hearts."

After her departure, an interim government under the guidance of economic expert Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

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

She alerted last month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the imminent electoral process, numerous would avoid the election.

The judgment creates a international dilemma for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but so far India has shown no willingness to acquiesce.

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

"I am unable to challenge because my defendants are not present; that's why I am disheartened," he stated further.

The previous week, the defense attorneys said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN highlighting significant due process and judicial process problems at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial together with her previous domestic affairs official and police chief.

While the sentence grants partial finality to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The anger against Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not decreased," a Dhaka-based rights activist informed media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has expressed regret or displayed repentance for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "This creates challenges for the party to be accepted by a majority of people in this state."

The activist added that the punishment was not closure for the families of those who died and were wounded.

"We work with several people who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it increasingly challenging" for her party to become a standard element of the country's governance system again.

This may change if "an expression of regret occurs and a separation from Hasina and the old leadership," he expressed.