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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity due to her harsh response on youth demonstrations which led to her ousting.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of permitting fatal actions to be used against demonstrators, with approximately 1,400 individuals died during the unrest in the previous year.

Hasina was tried without her presence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, as she resides in 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 the entire case, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The decision signifies a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over years of repression. Families of those killed and injured had called for tough penalties.

Answering the judgment in a five-page statement, Hasina said the capital punishment was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was content of her leadership's history on human rights.

"I do not fear to face my accusers in a fair court where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under tightened security ahead of the ruling on Monday, with several of her detractors organizing a demonstration and applauding as the sentence was declared.

Dhaka experienced a recent spike in unrest, with numerous incendiary devices set off and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, area law enforcement officer the police spokesperson stated to news organizations.

The protest movement led by students last year began with calls to eliminate government job quotas but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

International human rights monitors stated in a document in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could represent "violations of human dignity".

The paper detailed the firing at close quarters of a number of activists, the intentional injuring of further participants, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Leaked audio of one of Hasina's phone calls verified by external reviews in previous months implied she had authorized the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast 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 "severe penalty" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

Another relative, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "implemented before the election".

"Solely at that point the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will find peace in their minds."

Since Hasina's ousting, an temporary leadership headed by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A national vote is set for February 2026.

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

The former leader cautioned during the past month that if the the League's representatives were barred from participating in the forthcoming vote, millions would boycott the election.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her repatriation but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer her legal counsel said he was "disappointed and hoping the verdict had been different".

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

Recently, the defense attorneys said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN pointing out significant due process and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her previous domestic affairs official and security forces head.

Even though the verdict offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the country's political divisions.

"The resentment towards the former leader and the Awami League has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to news organizations. "Neither she nor the party has expressed regret or shown any remorse for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The advocate declared "This complicates matters for the organization to receive endorsement by a most citizens in this nation."

The activist added that the sentence was not resolution for the kin of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We assist numerous persons who suffered permanent amputations, they are amputees now, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it particularly hard" for her party to become a regular participant of Bangladeshi politics again.

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