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The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for atrocities due to her severe measures on protests led by students which resulted in her forced departure.

Hasina was declared culpable of authorizing deadly measures to be used against activists, 1,400 of whom died during the turmoil during 2024.

Legal proceedings were conducted while she was absent by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being behind numerous deaths during the protests. She has refuted all charges, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Families of those killed and wounded had called for severe punishments.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, she expressed the execution sentence was the temporary leadership's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was satisfied of her government's record on individual freedoms.

"I do not fear to meet my challengers in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards ahead of the decision on Monday, with several of her detractors holding a protest and cheering as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in disturbances, with multiple explosives detonated and public transport vehicles burned in the time before the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, regional security representative the police spokesperson told media outlets.

The youth-driven revolt during 2024 began with demands to abolish government job quotas but transformed into a broader opposition campaign.

International human rights monitors said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could amount to "crimes against humanity".

The study recorded the firing at close quarters of some protesters, the intentional injuring of additional individuals, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Disclosed sound files of a telephone conversation involving Hasina confirmed by media examinations in previous months suggested she had authorized the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

Prior to the ruling, kin of those killed during the protests informed media representatives they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

Ramjan Ali, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for the former leader and associates who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

Lucky Akther, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "carried out before the election".

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

Since Hasina's ousting, an caretaker administration led by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A general election is set for February 2026.

However, the Hasina's political party, Hasina's political party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

Hasina warned during the past month that if the her faction's nominees were prohibited from running in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the election.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her return but until now India has shown no willingness to acquiesce.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the verdict had been different".

"I cannot even contest because my represented individuals are away; which is why I am disheartened," he stated further.

Recently, Hasina's lawyers said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN pointing out significant due process and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina together with her ex-interior minister and security forces head.

While the sentence offers some closure to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the country's political divisions.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the Awami League has not diminished," a Dhaka-based rights activist stated to press agencies. "The leader and her faction has expressed regret or demonstrated contrition for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The advocate declared "This creates challenges for the faction to gain approval by a majority of people in this country."

The advocate continued that the sentence was not resolution for the kin of those killed and injured.

"We assist multiple individuals who suffered permanent amputations, they are currently without limbs, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it increasingly challenging" for her party to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "an expression of regret occurs and a distancing from the former leader and the previous administration," he said.