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The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for atrocities over her harsh response on protests led by students which led to her ousting.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, 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, having been exiled in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being responsible for hundreds of killings during the protests. The former leader rejected every accusation, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over long-standing suppression. Families of those killed and wounded had called for tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the capital punishment was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was content of her leadership's history on human rights.

"I do not fear to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards prior to the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and applauding as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in turmoil, with dozens of bombs exploded and buses set on fire in the time before the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police official Jisanul Haque informed media outlets.

The student-led uprising during 2024 began with calls to eliminate public sector reservation policies but transformed into a wider anti-government movement.

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

The paper detailed the shooting at point-blank range of some protesters, the deliberate maiming of additional individuals, unwarranted detentions and abuse.

Disclosed sound files of a call made by the former leader authenticated by media examinations earlier this year implied she had authorized the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the trial.

Ahead of the verdict, relatives of those killed during the protests stated to news agencies they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

A family representative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for her and co-accused who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

A different family member, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "carried out before the election".

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

After her departure, an caretaker administration headed by economist 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.

Hasina warned in the previous month that if the party's candidates were barred from participating in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the election.

This decision presents a international dilemma for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but so far India has expressed no readiness to comply.

Her officially designated attorney her legal counsel said he was "disappointed and hoping the decision had been otherwise".

"I cannot even contest because my represented individuals are away; that's why I am disheartened," he continued.

Recently, Hasina's lawyers said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN raising significant due process and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial alongside her previous domestic affairs official and police chief.

Although the punishment offers some closure to families of killed in the protests, it may not significantly ease the nation's partisan rifts.

"The anger against the former leader and the Awami League has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed media outlets. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."

She said "This complicates matters for the faction to gain approval by a most citizens in this nation."

The advocate continued that the sentence was not closure for the families of those who died and were wounded.

"We work with multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, because of the suppression. They will never be able to forgive her."

A journalist, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it increasingly challenging" for her party to become a normal feature of the nation's political landscape again.

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