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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for atrocities due to her harsh response on protests led by students which caused her forced departure.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of permitting fatal actions to be used against demonstrators, 1,400 of whom lost their lives during the turmoil during 2024.

Hasina was tried while she was absent by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) 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. The former leader rejected every accusation, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

The verdict marks a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over extended periods of oppression. Families of those killed and injured had requested strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a comprehensive declaration, Hasina said the execution sentence was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was content of her government's record on civil liberties.

"I have no trepidation to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under tightened security before the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and cheering as the verdict was read.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in unrest, with dozens of bombs exploded and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, regional security representative the authorities' representative told media outlets.

The youth-driven revolt last year commenced through demands to abolish public sector reservation policies but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

International human rights monitors stated in a document in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could represent "crimes against humanity".

The paper detailed the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of others, unwarranted detentions and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of a call made by the former leader confirmed by investigative sources earlier this year implied she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the trial.

Prior to the ruling, family members of those killed during the protests informed news agencies they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

One relative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for Hasina and others 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 "implemented before the election".

"Only then the kin of victims [in the protests] will obtain solace in their souls."

After her departure, an interim government under the guidance of economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A general election is set for February 2026.

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

Hasina warned in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were banned from standing in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the ballot.

The judgment creates a diplomatic challenge for the neighboring countries. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but until now India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer the defense lawyer said he was "disappointed and hoping the outcome had varied".

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; which is why I am disappointed," he stated further.

Recently, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN highlighting major judicial fairness and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her former home minister and security forces head.

Although the punishment offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the country's political divisions.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to press agencies. "The leader and her faction has apologised or demonstrated contrition for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "It makes it difficult for the faction to gain approval by a most citizens in this country."

The activist added that the penalty was not finality for the relatives of those killed and injured.

"We work with numerous persons who suffered permanent amputations, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it increasingly challenging" for her party 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 previous administration," he stated.