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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for human rights violations over her crackdown on youth demonstrations which caused her removal from power.

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, with approximately 1,400 individuals were killed during the unrest in the previous year.

Legal proceedings were conducted without her presence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being behind hundreds of killings during the protests. The former leader rejected all charges, describing the process as "biased and politically motivated".

The decision signifies a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Relatives of the deceased and injured had requested severe punishments.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, Hasina said the execution sentence was the temporary leadership's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a political force and that she was content of her administration's performance on human rights.

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

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under enhanced protection ahead of the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and celebrating as the sentence was declared.

The capital witnessed a notable rise in turmoil, with multiple explosives detonated and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, area law enforcement officer the authorities' representative stated to news organizations.

The protest movement led by students last year started with requests to remove government job quotas but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

International human rights monitors stated in a document in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could amount to "violations of human dignity".

The paper detailed the firing at close quarters of some protesters, the deliberate maiming of further participants, arbitrary arrests and abuse.

Disclosed sound files of a telephone conversation involving Hasina confirmed by external reviews in previous months indicated she had authorized the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the trial.

Before the decision, kin of those fatally injured in the unrest told press outlets they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

One relative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and abused their power".

A different family member, 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 kin of victims [in the protests] will find peace in their minds."

After her departure, an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A parliamentary election is scheduled for February 2026.

However, the Hasina's political party, the former ruling party, was banned 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.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but until now India has expressed no readiness to comply.

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

"I am unable to challenge because my defendants are not present; for that reason I am sad," he stated further.

The previous week, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN pointing out serious fair trial and due process issues at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her ex-interior minister and police chief.

Even though the verdict offers some closure to families of killed in the protests, it may do little to soothe the state's ideological splits.

"The anger against Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told press agencies. "Neither she nor the party has said sorry or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

The advocate declared "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this state."

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

"We work with several people who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, due to the crackdown. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it particularly hard" for Awami League to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with the former leader and the old leadership," he said.