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The country's previous leader has been handed capital punishment for atrocities due to her severe measures on youth demonstrations which resulted in her forced departure.

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

The trial proceeded while she was absent by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being responsible for multiple fatalities during the protests. The former leader rejected every accusation, labeling the proceedings as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over long-standing suppression. Relatives of the deceased and injured had called for tough penalties.

Responding to the decision in a detailed document, she expressed the capital punishment was the temporary leadership's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was satisfied of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I have no trepidation to face my accusers in a fair court where the proof can be evaluated and examined justly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under tightened security before the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and applauding as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a sudden increase in turmoil, with dozens of bombs exploded and buses set on fire in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, area law enforcement officer Jisanul Haque informed news organizations.

The student-led uprising last year commenced through calls to eliminate public sector reservation policies but evolved into a broader opposition campaign.

International human rights monitors declared in an analysis in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could represent "crimes against humanity".

The paper detailed the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the intentional injuring of additional individuals, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Leaked audio of a call made by the former leader authenticated by media examinations during the current year suggested she had sanctioned the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the proceedings.

Before the decision, relatives of those killed during the protests stated to news agencies they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

One relative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for Hasina and others who have "performed revengeful deeds and abused their power".

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

"Solely at that point the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

After her departure, an temporary leadership under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A national vote is scheduled for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Awami League, the former ruling party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

She alerted last month that if the the League's representatives were barred from participating in the imminent electoral process, millions would boycott the vote.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her repatriation but until now India has shown no willingness to acquiesce.

Her officially designated attorney the defense lawyer said he was "unhappy and desiring the verdict had been different".

"I cannot even contest because my defendants are not present; that's why I am sad," he stated further.

Recently, the defense attorneys said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising serious fair trial and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Hasina was tried in conjunction with her former home minister and top law enforcement officer.

Although the punishment grants partial finality to kin of victims in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the nation's partisan rifts.

"The anger against the former leader and the Awami League has not decreased," a Dhaka-based rights activist informed press agencies. "Neither she nor the party has expressed regret or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "It makes it difficult for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this state."

The advocate continued that the penalty was not resolution for the relatives 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, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, 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 "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the previous administration," he said.