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The country's previous leader has been handed capital punishment for atrocities due to her severe measures on student-led protests which led to her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the disturbances during 2024.

Legal proceedings were conducted without her presence by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being responsible for multiple fatalities during the protests. She has refuted every accusation, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over years of repression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had called for severe punishments.

Answering the judgment in a five-page statement, Hasina said the execution sentence was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was satisfied of her government's record on human rights.

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

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under enhanced protection prior to the verdict on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and applauding as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a sudden increase in disturbances, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the days leading up to the verdict.

One explosive incident was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official the authorities' representative stated to news organizations.

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

UN human rights investigators said in a report in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could constitute "human rights atrocities".

The paper detailed the firing at close quarters of some protesters, the deliberate maiming of further participants, arbitrary arrests and abuse.

Unauthorized recordings of a call made by the former leader verified by media examinations in previous months suggested she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the legal process.

Ahead of the verdict, family members of those who died in the demonstrations informed press outlets they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

One relative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for Hasina and others who have "performed revengeful deeds and abused their power".

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

"Only then the families of those killed [in the protests] will obtain solace in their souls."

Since Hasina's ousting, an caretaker administration under the guidance of economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Hasina's political party, Hasina's political party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

Hasina warned last month that if the party's candidates were banned from standing in the imminent electoral process, millions would boycott the election.

The judgment creates a international dilemma for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but to date India has shown no willingness to agree.

The legal representative assigned to her her legal counsel said he was "unhappy and desiring the outcome had varied".

"I am unable to challenge because my clients are absent; for that reason I am sad," he stated further.

Last week, Hasina's lawyers said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN raising major judicial fairness and due process issues at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina together with her former home minister and top law enforcement officer.

Although the punishment grants partial finality to kin of victims in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the state's ideological splits.

"The resentment towards Hasina and the her political party has not decreased," a human rights advocate from the capital stated to media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has apologised or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "It makes it difficult for the faction to gain approval by a majority of people in this country."

The advocate continued that the punishment was not closure for the kin of those killed and injured.

"We support several people who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, 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 Awami League to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This may change if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from Hasina and the previous administration," he expressed.