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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been given a death sentence for crimes against humanity over her severe measures on youth demonstrations which resulted in her removal from power.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the disturbances last year.

Legal proceedings were conducted in absentia by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being responsible for hundreds of killings during the protests. She has refuted the entire case, labeling the proceedings as "biased and politically motivated".

The decision signifies a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had demanded strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, the former leader stated the capital punishment was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was content of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I do not fear to face my accusers in a fair court where the facts can be assessed and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under increased safeguards before the decision on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally and celebrating as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a recent spike in disturbances, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, area law enforcement officer the authorities' representative informed media outlets.

The student-led uprising in the previous year began with requests to remove government job quotas but transformed into a broader opposition campaign.

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

The report documented the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the purposeful disabling of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and abuse.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by media examinations during the current year implied she had authorized the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the legal process.

Ahead of the verdict, relatives of those killed during the protests 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 "exemplary punishment" for her and co-accused who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

Another relative, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "executed before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the families of those killed [in the protests] will obtain solace in their minds."

Following her removal, an temporary leadership led by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A parliamentary election is set for February 2026.

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

Hasina warned in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were banned from standing in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the vote.

The judgment creates a diplomatic challenge for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to comply.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer her legal counsel said he was "unhappy and desiring the outcome had varied".

"I am unable to challenge because my clients are absent; which is why I am disappointed," he stated further.

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

The former leader faced trial together with her previous domestic affairs official and top law enforcement officer.

Although the punishment offers some closure to kin of victims 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 stated to news organizations. "Both she and the organization has expressed regret or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The activist stated "It makes it difficult for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this state."

The campaigner further stated that the sentence was not finality for the kin of those killed and injured.

"We work with several people who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, because of the suppression. They are incapable of excusing her."

David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it even more difficult" for her party to become a regular participant of the country's governance system again.

This may change if "an expression of regret occurs and a distancing from Hasina and the previous administration," he said.