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The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for human rights violations due to her severe measures on youth demonstrations which led to her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against demonstrators, among whom around 1,400 people died during the disturbances in the previous year.

The trial proceeded without her presence by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being behind hundreds of killings during the protests. She has refuted the entire case, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The decision signifies a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over extended periods of oppression. Relatives of the deceased and wounded had demanded tough penalties.

Answering the judgment in a detailed document, she expressed the execution sentence was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a governing body and that she was proud of her administration's performance on individual freedoms.

"I am not afraid to meet my challengers in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and reviewed impartially."

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security ahead of the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors holding a protest and applauding as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a recent spike in turmoil, with numerous incendiary devices set off and coaches ignited in the time before the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official the authorities' representative told news organizations.

The student-led uprising during 2024 started with calls to eliminate government job quotas but evolved into a more extensive dissent initiative.

UN human rights investigators stated in a document in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could constitute "human rights atrocities".

The study recorded the gunfire from minimal distance of some protesters, the deliberate maiming of further participants, arbitrary arrests and abuse.

Leaked audio of a telephone conversation involving Hasina confirmed by investigative sources during the current year implied she had approved the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the proceedings.

Ahead of the verdict, family members of those killed during the protests told press outlets 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 the former leader's punishment to be "carried out before the election".

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

Since Hasina's ousting, an temporary leadership under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A general election is planned for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the her former political organization, Hasina's political party, was banned by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

The former leader cautioned during the past month that if the party's candidates were prohibited from running in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the ballot.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "disappointed and hoping the decision had been otherwise".

"I cannot even contest because my defendants are not present; which is why I am disheartened," he continued.

The previous week, her legal team said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN highlighting serious fair trial and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

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

Although the punishment grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may do little to soothe the nation's partisan rifts.

"The fury directed at Hasina and the her political party has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to news organizations. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or demonstrated contrition for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "This complicates matters for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this state."

The advocate continued that the penalty was not resolution for the families of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We support multiple individuals who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They will never be able to forgive 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 regular participant of Bangladeshi politics again.

This might transform if "there is some kind of apology and a distancing from the former leader and the former hierarchy," he said.