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

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of allowing lethal force to be used against activists, among whom around 1,400 people died during the turmoil last year.

Legal proceedings were conducted while she was absent by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being the mastermind of hundreds of killings during the protests. She has refuted the entire case, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had called for strict sentences.

Responding to the decision in a comprehensive declaration, Hasina said the execution sentence was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was proud of her administration's performance on civil liberties.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the proof can be evaluated and examined justly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security before the decision on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and cheering as the verdict was read.

The city has seen a sudden increase in unrest, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, regional security representative Jisanul Haque stated to media outlets.

The protest movement led by students last year started with demands to abolish state employment quotas but morphed into a broader opposition campaign.

UN human rights investigators said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could constitute "crimes against humanity".

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

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls verified by external reviews in previous months suggested she had approved the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the proceedings.

Ahead of the verdict, relatives 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 "exemplary punishment" for Hasina and others who have "performed revengeful deeds and misused their authority".

A different family member, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "executed before the election".

"Solely at that point the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

Since Hasina's ousting, an interim government led by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A parliamentary election is set for February 2026.

However, the her former political organization, her political faction, was outlawed by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

The former leader cautioned in the previous month that if the party's candidates were banned from standing in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the vote.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but until now India has demonstrated no inclination to comply.

The legal representative assigned to her the defense lawyer said he was "unhappy and desiring the verdict had been different".

"I even cannot appeal because my defendants are not present; for that reason I am disappointed," he stated further.

The previous week, the defense attorneys said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN highlighting major judicial fairness and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial together with her ex-interior minister and security forces head.

Even though the verdict provides certain resolution to families of killed in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the country's political divisions.

"The resentment towards the former leader and the her political party has not subsided," a Dhaka-based rights activist informed media outlets. "The leader and her faction has expressed regret or displayed repentance for the fatalities of countless citizens."

She said "It makes it difficult for the faction to gain approval by a bulk of the population in this nation."

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

"We assist multiple individuals who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, because of the suppression. They are incapable of excusing her."

David Bergman, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it particularly hard" for her party to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This may change if "an expression of regret occurs and a separation from Sheikh Hasina and the old leadership," he said.