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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for atrocities over her harsh response on youth demonstrations which caused her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against demonstrators, 1,400 of whom lost their lives during the turmoil during 2024.

The trial proceeded in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being the mastermind of numerous deaths during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The decision signifies a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had called for tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, the former leader stated the death penalty was the temporary leadership's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was content of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I do not fear to meet my challengers in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under enhanced protection ahead of the ruling on Monday, with several of her detractors organizing a demonstration and celebrating as the verdict was read.

The city has seen a notable rise in unrest, with dozens of bombs exploded and coaches ignited in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official the police spokesperson told news organizations.

The protest movement led by students last year started with calls to eliminate public sector reservation policies but transformed into a wider anti-government movement.

UN human rights investigators declared in an analysis in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could constitute "human rights atrocities".

The paper detailed the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, unwarranted detentions and abuse.

Disclosed sound files of a call made by the former leader authenticated by investigative sources in previous months implied she had authorized the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the legal process.

Ahead of the verdict, relatives of those fatally injured in the unrest stated to press outlets they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

A family representative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for the former leader and associates who have "performed revengeful deeds and exploited their positions".

Another relative, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "carried out before the election".

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

After her departure, an interim government under the guidance of economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A national vote is scheduled for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Awami League, Hasina's political party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

The former leader cautioned during the past month that if the party's candidates were banned from standing in the upcoming election, millions would boycott the election.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but until now India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

The legal representative assigned to her her legal counsel said he was "sad [and wishes] the decision had been otherwise".

"I cannot even contest because my clients are absent; that's why I am disheartened," he added.

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

Hasina was tried together with her former home minister and police chief.

Although the punishment offers some closure to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not decreased," a human rights advocate from the capital informed press agencies. "Both she and the organization has expressed regret or displayed repentance for the fatalities of countless citizens."

She said "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a majority of people in this country."

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

"We assist multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, due to the crackdown. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for Awami League to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This could alter if "an expression of regret occurs and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the old leadership," he stated.