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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been handed capital punishment for atrocities due to her severe measures on student-led protests which led to her removal from power.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, with approximately 1,400 individuals were killed during the turmoil in the previous year.

Hasina was tried while she was absent by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. She has refuted 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. Relatives of the deceased and wounded had demanded severe punishments.

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, she expressed the capital punishment was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was satisfied of her leadership's history on civil liberties.

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

The capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards before the verdict on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and celebrating as the sentence was declared.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in disturbances, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the days leading up to the verdict.

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

The youth-driven revolt last year commenced through requests to remove state employment quotas but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners stated in a document in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could represent "crimes against humanity".

The paper detailed the shooting at point-blank range of certain demonstrators, the purposeful disabling of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and abuse.

Unauthorized recordings of one of Hasina's phone calls verified by investigative sources in previous months implied she had approved the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the legal process.

Before the decision, kin of those killed during the protests informed press outlets they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

Ramjan Ali, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "performed revengeful deeds and abused their power".

Another relative, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "implemented before the election".

"Only then the families of those killed [in the protests] will achieve closure in their hearts."

Following her removal, an temporary leadership under the guidance of economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A general election is planned for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Awami League, the former ruling party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

Hasina warned in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the upcoming election, numerous would avoid the election.

This decision presents a diplomatic challenge for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her return but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

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

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

Last week, the defense attorneys said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN pointing out 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 provides certain resolution to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the country's political divisions.

"The anger against the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed media outlets. "Both she and the organization has apologised or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."

She said "It makes it difficult for the faction to gain approval by a most citizens in this state."

The advocate continued that the punishment was not finality for the relatives of those who died and were wounded.

"We work with multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are currently without limbs, due to the crackdown. They will never be able to forgive her."

An analyst, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it particularly hard" for the political faction to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This may change if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from Hasina and the old leadership," he expressed.