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The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for human rights violations due to her crackdown on protests led by students which resulted in her removal from power.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of authorizing deadly measures to be used against activists, among whom around 1,400 people lost their lives during the unrest in the previous year.

Hasina was tried 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. The former leader rejected the entire case, calling the trial as "unfair and agenda-driven".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Families of those killed and injured had demanded tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, the former leader stated the execution sentence was the interim government's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was satisfied of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a fair court where the facts can be assessed and reviewed impartially."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under enhanced protection before the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally and applauding as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a notable rise in turmoil, with numerous incendiary devices set off and public transport vehicles burned in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, area law enforcement officer the authorities' representative informed press agencies.

The student-led uprising in the previous year commenced through demands to abolish state employment quotas but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

International human rights monitors declared in an analysis in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could amount to "human rights atrocities".

The paper detailed the gunfire from minimal distance of some protesters, the purposeful disabling of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Disclosed sound files of a call made by the former leader verified by investigative sources during the current year indicated she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the legal process.

Before the decision, kin of those who died in the demonstrations stated to news agencies they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

A family representative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

A different family member, 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 kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their hearts."

Following her removal, an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

However, the Awami League, her political faction, was outlawed by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

The former leader cautioned last month that if the party's candidates were prohibited from running in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the ballot.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but so far India has expressed no readiness to comply.

Her officially designated attorney the defense lawyer said he was "disappointed and hoping the verdict had been different".

"I even cannot appeal because my defendants are not present; which is why I am sad," he continued.

Last week, Hasina's lawyers said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN pointing out significant due process and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina in conjunction with her ex-interior minister and top law enforcement officer.

Even though the verdict provides certain resolution to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the country's political divisions.

"The anger against Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not decreased," a Dhaka-based rights activist stated to media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has said sorry or demonstrated contrition for the killings of hundreds of people."

The activist stated "This creates challenges for the party to be accepted by a majority of people in this nation."

The campaigner further stated that the sentence was not closure for the relatives of those killed and injured.

"We support numerous persons who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, as a result of the harsh measures. They cannot pardon her."

A journalist, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it even more difficult" for the political faction to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This might transform if "there is some kind of apology and a disassociation with Hasina and the former hierarchy," he stated.