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The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for crimes against humanity stemming from her crackdown on protests led by students which caused her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, with approximately 1,400 individuals were killed during the turmoil during 2024.

Hasina was tried without her presence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being behind hundreds of killings during the protests. She has refuted all charges, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

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

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, she expressed the execution sentence was the temporary leadership's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was content of her leadership's history on human rights.

"I have no trepidation to face my accusers in a fair court where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under increased safeguards before the ruling on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally and cheering as the judgment was announced.

The city has seen a sudden increase in unrest, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the period preceding the verdict.

One explosive incident was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police official Jisanul Haque told press agencies.

The protest movement led by students last year began with requests to remove public sector reservation policies but morphed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

International human rights monitors said in a report in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could constitute "human rights atrocities".

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of certain demonstrators, the purposeful disabling of others, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls verified by external reviews in previous months suggested she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the proceedings.

Ahead of the verdict, kin of those who died in the demonstrations told press outlets they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

A family representative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for the former leader and associates who have "committed acts of vengeance and abused their power".

A different family member, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "implemented before the election".

"Only then the kin of victims [in the protests] will obtain solace in their souls."

Following her removal, an temporary leadership headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A national vote is planned for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the her former political organization, Hasina's political party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

She alerted in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the imminent electoral process, millions would boycott the vote.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her repatriation but to date India has expressed no readiness to agree.

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

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

Recently, the defense attorneys said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising major judicial fairness and due process issues at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial together with her former home minister and top law enforcement officer.

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

"The resentment towards Hasina and the Awami League has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed press agencies. "The leader and her faction has said sorry or displayed repentance for the killings of hundreds of people."

The activist stated "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a bulk of the population in this nation."

The campaigner further stated that the penalty was not finality for the kin of those who died and were wounded.

"We assist multiple individuals who lost their limbs forever, they are currently without limbs, due to the crackdown. They cannot pardon 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 Awami League to become a normal feature of the country's governance system again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a separation from Hasina and the previous administration," he stated.