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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for atrocities due to her severe measures on student-led protests which resulted in her removal from power.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of allowing lethal force to be used against demonstrators, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the turmoil last year.

The trial proceeded without her presence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of numerous deaths during the protests. Hasina has denied all charges, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over years of repression. Relatives of the deceased and injured had requested strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a comprehensive declaration, Hasina said the death penalty was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was proud of her leadership's history on human rights.

"I do not fear to meet my challengers in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and reviewed impartially."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security prior to the verdict on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and applauding as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a recent spike in unrest, with multiple explosives detonated and coaches ignited in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, regional security representative the authorities' representative told press agencies.

The student-led uprising during 2024 commenced through requests to remove public sector reservation policies but morphed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

International human rights monitors said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could represent "human rights atrocities".

The paper detailed the firing at close quarters of certain demonstrators, the intentional injuring of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and abuse.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls verified by media examinations in previous months indicated 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 informed media representatives they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

One relative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for the former leader and associates who have "committed acts of vengeance and exploited their positions".

Another relative, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "executed before the election".

"Solely at that point the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will find peace in their hearts."

Since Hasina's ousting, an caretaker administration headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the her former political organization, her political faction, was banned by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

She alerted during the past month that if the party's candidates were banned from standing in the imminent electoral process, numerous would avoid the election.

The verdict now poses a international dilemma for India and Bangladesh. Authorities have sought her return but until now India has shown no willingness to comply.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "sad [and wishes] the outcome had varied".

"I am unable to challenge because my clients are absent; that's why I am sad," he continued.

The previous week, Hasina's lawyers said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN highlighting serious fair trial and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

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

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to families of killed in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the country's political divisions.

"The anger against the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has apologised or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "This complicates matters for the organization to receive endorsement by a most citizens in this country."

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

"We work with multiple individuals who lost their limbs forever, they are now disabled, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it increasingly challenging" for the political faction to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

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