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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been handed capital punishment for human rights violations over her harsh response on protests led by students which led to her forced departure.

Hasina was declared culpable of authorizing deadly measures to be used against activists, among whom around 1,400 people died during the turmoil in the previous year.

Legal proceedings were conducted without her presence by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. The former leader rejected all charges, labeling the proceedings as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and injured had requested tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, she expressed the death penalty was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was content of her administration's performance on individual freedoms.

"I have no trepidation to meet my challengers in a proper tribunal where the facts can be assessed and examined justly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under enhanced protection ahead of the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and celebrating as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a recent spike in unrest, with dozens of bombs exploded and buses set on fire in the period preceding the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, regional security representative the authorities' representative told media outlets.

The protest movement led by students in the previous year began with requests to remove government job quotas but evolved into a broader opposition campaign.

International human rights monitors declared in an analysis in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could constitute "violations of human dignity".

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of some protesters, the deliberate maiming of further participants, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Disclosed sound files of a call made by the former leader authenticated by investigative sources earlier this year implied she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the legal process.

Ahead of the verdict, relatives of those fatally injured in the unrest informed press outlets they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

One relative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for her and co-accused who have "committed acts of vengeance and exploited their positions".

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

"Exclusively thereafter the kin of victims [in the protests] will find peace in their souls."

Since Hasina's ousting, an temporary leadership led by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A national vote is scheduled for February 2026.

However, the Hasina's political party, her political faction, was prohibited 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, millions would boycott the ballot.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

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

"I cannot even contest because my represented individuals are away; which is why I am sad," he stated further.

The previous week, her legal team said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN highlighting serious fair trial and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her former home minister and top law enforcement officer.

Although the punishment provides certain resolution to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may do little to soothe the country's political divisions.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed press agencies. "Neither she nor the party has expressed regret or displayed repentance for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The advocate declared "This creates challenges for the organization to receive endorsement by a majority of people in this nation."

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

"We assist numerous persons who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They will never be able to forgive her."

An analyst, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it increasingly challenging" for the political faction to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "an expression of regret occurs and a disassociation with the former leader and the old leadership," he said.