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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been given a death sentence for human rights violations over her crackdown on protests led by students which caused her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against activists, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the disturbances last year.

Legal proceedings were conducted while she was absent by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being responsible for numerous deaths during the protests. Hasina has denied the entire case, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had demanded severe punishments.

Responding to the decision in a detailed document, she expressed the death penalty was the interim government's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a political force and that she was proud of her administration's performance on human rights.

"I am not afraid to confront those accusing me in a just legal forum where the proof can be evaluated and examined justly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security before the verdict on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina organizing a demonstration and applauding as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a recent spike in unrest, with multiple explosives detonated and coaches ignited in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official the authorities' representative stated to press agencies.

The student-led uprising during 2024 started with calls to eliminate public sector reservation policies but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

United Nations rights examiners said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could amount to "violations of human dignity".

The report documented the firing at close quarters of some protesters, the purposeful disabling of others, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Unauthorized recordings of one of Hasina's phone calls confirmed by investigative sources during the current year suggested 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 told news agencies they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

Ramjan Ali, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and abused their power".

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

"Only then 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 taken charge. A general election is planned for February 2026.

However, the Awami League, Hasina's political party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

Hasina warned last month that if the her faction's nominees were banned from standing in the upcoming election, numerous would avoid the election.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. The Bangladesh government has asked her repatriation but to date India has shown no willingness to acquiesce.

Her officially designated attorney her legal counsel said he was "sad [and wishes] the decision had been otherwise".

"I am unable to challenge because my represented individuals are away; which is why I am sad," he continued.

Recently, Hasina's lawyers said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN highlighting serious fair trial and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina alongside her former home minister and top law enforcement officer.

While the sentence grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may not significantly ease the country's political divisions.

"The resentment towards the former leader and the the former ruling faction 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 deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a bulk of the population in this country."

The advocate continued that the punishment was not closure for the kin of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We work with multiple individuals who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, due to the crackdown. They cannot pardon her."

A journalist, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for her party to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This might transform if "there is some kind of apology and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the old leadership," he said.