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The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for atrocities over her severe measures on protests led by students which resulted in her removal from power.

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom were killed during the disturbances during 2024.

The trial proceeded without her presence by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. Hasina has denied the entire case, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over years of repression. Relatives of the deceased and wounded had demanded severe punishments.

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, the former leader stated the death penalty was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was content of her government's record on human rights.

"I am not afraid to confront those accusing me in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and reviewed impartially."

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under increased safeguards before the decision on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina organizing a demonstration and celebrating as the judgment was announced.

Dhaka experienced a sudden increase in unrest, with dozens of bombs exploded and buses set on fire in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, area law enforcement officer the authorities' representative stated to press agencies.

The student-led uprising during 2024 began with calls to eliminate public sector reservation policies but morphed into a broader opposition campaign.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could constitute "human rights atrocities".

The study recorded the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of further participants, unwarranted detentions and abuse.

Unauthorized recordings of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by investigative sources earlier this year suggested she had sanctioned the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

Before the decision, family members of those fatally injured in the unrest 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 Hasina and others who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

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

"Exclusively thereafter the families of those killed [in the protests] will achieve closure in their souls."

Since Hasina's ousting, an caretaker administration under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A parliamentary election is scheduled for February 2026.

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

The former leader cautioned last month that if the her faction's nominees were prohibited from running in the imminent electoral process, millions would boycott the vote.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but so far India has expressed no readiness to comply.

The legal representative assigned to her the defense lawyer said he was "disappointed and hoping the outcome had varied".

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; which is why I am sad," he added.

Last week, 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 in conjunction 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 not significantly ease the country's political divisions.

"The anger against Sheikh Hasina and the her political party has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed media outlets. "The leader and her faction has said sorry or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

The advocate declared "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this country."

The advocate continued that the penalty was not closure for the families of those killed and injured.

"We work with numerous persons who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are currently without limbs, as a result of the harsh measures. They are incapable of excusing her."

A journalist, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it particularly hard" for her party to become a regular participant of the country's governance system again.

This might transform if "an expression of regret occurs and a disassociation with Hasina and the previous administration," he expressed.