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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for atrocities stemming from her crackdown on protests led by students which led to her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of authorizing deadly measures to be used against demonstrators, among whom around 1,400 people died during the disturbances during 2024.

Legal proceedings were conducted without her presence by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being the mastermind of numerous deaths during the protests. She has refuted the entire case, labeling the proceedings as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over years of repression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had demanded tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a comprehensive declaration, Hasina said the death penalty was the interim government's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was proud of her government's record on human rights.

"I am not afraid to confront those accusing me in a fair court where the facts can be assessed and reviewed impartially."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under enhanced protection before the decision on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally and applauding as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in unrest, with numerous incendiary devices set off and coaches ignited in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, area law enforcement officer the authorities' representative stated to news organizations.

The student-led uprising last year started with demands to abolish government job quotas but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

UN human rights investigators stated in a document in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could represent "crimes against humanity".

The report documented the firing at close quarters of certain demonstrators, the intentional injuring of others, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls confirmed by investigative sources in previous months indicated she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the proceedings.

Prior to the ruling, family members of those who died in the demonstrations stated to press outlets they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for her and co-accused who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

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

"Only then the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

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

However, the her former political organization, the former ruling party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

She alerted in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were banned from standing in the upcoming election, numerous would avoid the ballot.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her repatriation but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to acquiesce.

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

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

Last week, the defense attorneys said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN raising serious fair trial and due process issues at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina together with her previous domestic affairs official and top law enforcement officer.

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to kin of victims in the protests, it may do little to soothe the country's political divisions.

"The resentment towards the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed press agencies. "Both she and the organization has apologised or displayed repentance for the killings of hundreds of people."

The activist stated "This complicates matters for the faction to gain approval by a most citizens in this nation."

The campaigner further stated that the punishment was not closure for the kin of those killed and injured.

"We assist multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, because of the suppression. They will never be able to forgive her."

David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it increasingly challenging" for Awami League to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "there is some kind of apology and a distancing from the former leader and the former hierarchy," he said.