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The country's previous leader has been handed capital punishment for atrocities over her harsh response on student-led protests which resulted in her ousting.

Hasina was declared culpable of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, with approximately 1,400 individuals were killed during the disturbances during 2024.

The trial proceeded 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.

Prosecutors accused her of being responsible for hundreds of killings during the protests. Hasina has denied all charges, labeling the proceedings as "unfair and agenda-driven".

This judgment represents a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over years of repression. Relatives of the deceased and harmed had requested strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, she expressed the death penalty was the interim government's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a political force and that she was content of her administration's performance on individual freedoms.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and reviewed impartially."

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security ahead of the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and applauding as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in turmoil, with dozens of bombs exploded and public transport vehicles burned in the time before the verdict.

One explosive incident was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, area law enforcement officer the police spokesperson told press agencies.

The protest movement led by students in the previous year commenced through requests to remove public sector reservation policies but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could represent "violations of human dignity".

The report documented the firing at close quarters of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Leaked audio of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by external reviews earlier this year indicated she had authorized the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

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

A family representative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for the former leader and associates who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

A different family member, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "executed before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will obtain solace in their minds."

Following her removal, an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A parliamentary election is set for February 2026.

However, the Awami League, her political faction, was prohibited by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

Hasina warned in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the imminent electoral process, numerous would avoid the ballot.

The judgment creates a international dilemma for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her return but until now India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

The legal representative assigned to her her legal counsel said he was "unhappy and desiring the verdict had been different".

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

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

Legal proceedings involved Hasina alongside her previous domestic affairs official and top law enforcement officer.

Even though the verdict offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not decreased," a human rights advocate from the capital told news organizations. "The leader and her faction has expressed regret or shown any remorse for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The activist stated "This complicates matters for the faction to gain approval by a most citizens in this nation."

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

"We assist several people who lost their limbs forever, they are now disabled, due to the crackdown. They will never be able to forgive her."

David Bergman, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it particularly hard" for Awami League to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from the former leader and the previous administration," he expressed.