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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity due to her crackdown on student-led protests which resulted in her ousting.

Hasina was declared culpable of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people lost their lives during the unrest in the previous year.

Legal proceedings were conducted while she was absent by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being the mastermind of numerous deaths during the protests. The former leader rejected all charges, calling the trial as "unfair and agenda-driven".

This judgment represents a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had requested tough penalties.

Answering the judgment in a detailed document, she expressed the execution sentence was the interim government's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was content of her administration's performance on individual freedoms.

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

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security ahead of the ruling on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina holding a protest and celebrating as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a sudden increase in disturbances, with dozens of bombs exploded and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, regional security representative Jisanul Haque stated to news organizations.

The student-led uprising in the previous year commenced through requests to remove state employment quotas but morphed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

International human rights monitors declared in an analysis in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could amount to "violations of human dignity".

The study recorded the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the purposeful disabling of others, unwarranted detentions and mistreatment.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls verified by external reviews during the current year suggested she had sanctioned the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the trial.

Prior to the ruling, kin of those killed during the protests informed press outlets they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

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 "performed revengeful deeds and exploited their positions".

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

"Exclusively thereafter the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will achieve closure in their hearts."

Since Hasina's ousting, an temporary leadership headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A general election is set for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Hasina's political party, Hasina's political party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

She alerted last month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the ballot.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but until now India has shown no willingness to agree.

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 defendants are not present; which is why I am disheartened," he stated further.

Last week, Hasina's lawyers said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN highlighting major judicial fairness and due process issues at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her previous domestic affairs official and security forces head.

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

"The fury directed at Hasina and the Awami League has not diminished," a Dhaka-based rights activist informed press agencies. "Both she and the organization has apologised or demonstrated contrition for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "This complicates matters for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this state."

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

"We support several people who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They are incapable of excusing her."

David Bergman, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for Awami League to become a regular participant of the country's governance system again.

This might transform if "there is some kind of apology and a disassociation with Hasina and the previous administration," he said.