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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been handed capital punishment for atrocities due to her crackdown on student-led protests which caused her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against activists, among whom around 1,400 people lost their lives during the turmoil in the previous year.

Hasina was tried while she was absent by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being responsible for hundreds of killings during the protests. The former leader rejected every accusation, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had called for severe punishments.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, Hasina said the execution sentence was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was proud of her government's record on individual freedoms.

"I do not fear to confront those accusing me in a fair court where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under enhanced protection before the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors organizing a demonstration and cheering as the sentence was declared.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in disturbances, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the period preceding the verdict.

One explosive incident was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official Jisanul Haque stated to news organizations.

The protest movement led by students last year began with demands to abolish state employment quotas but morphed into a broader opposition campaign.

International human rights monitors declared in an analysis in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could constitute "violations of human dignity".

The study recorded the shooting at point-blank range of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Disclosed sound files of a call made by the former leader authenticated by media examinations in previous months suggested she had authorized the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the trial.

Ahead of the verdict, 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 "severe penalty" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and exploited their positions".

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

"Exclusively thereafter the families of those killed [in the protests] will find peace in their minds."

Following her removal, an caretaker administration under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A general election is planned for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Awami League, the former ruling party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

She alerted in the previous month that if the her faction's nominees were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, numerous would avoid the election.

This decision presents a international dilemma for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her return but until now India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

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

"I cannot even contest because my defendants are not present; which is why I am disappointed," 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.

The former leader faced trial alongside her ex-interior minister and security forces head.

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may not significantly ease the country's political divisions.

"The fury directed at Hasina and the Awami League has not subsided," a Dhaka-based rights activist told media outlets. "The leader and her faction has expressed regret or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

The advocate declared "This complicates matters for the faction to gain approval by a majority of people in this nation."

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

"We work with several people who underwent irreversible limb loss, 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 her party to become a regular participant of the country's governance system again.

This may change if "there is some kind of apology and a separation from Sheikh Hasina and the previous administration," he expressed.