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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been given a death sentence for crimes against humanity stemming from her severe measures on youth demonstrations which led to her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the unrest last year.

Legal proceedings were conducted while she was absent by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being responsible for numerous deaths during the protests. She has refuted the entire case, calling the trial as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The decision signifies a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over years of repression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had requested tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a five-page statement, she expressed the death penalty was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a governing body and that she was satisfied of her government's record on human rights.

"I am not afraid to meet my challengers in a proper tribunal where the facts can be assessed and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards before the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors organizing a demonstration and cheering as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a sudden increase in disturbances, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the time before the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, area law enforcement officer Jisanul Haque told media outlets.

The student-led uprising in the previous year commenced through calls to eliminate public sector reservation policies but evolved into a more extensive dissent initiative.

International human rights monitors stated in a document in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could represent "human rights atrocities".

The study recorded the firing at close quarters of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of further participants, unwarranted detentions and abuse.

Leaked audio of a telephone conversation involving Hasina verified by investigative sources earlier this year suggested she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

Prior to the ruling, kin of those fatally injured in the unrest informed media representatives they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

A family representative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for the former leader and associates who have "committed acts of vengeance and abused their power".

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

"Exclusively thereafter the families of those killed [in the protests] will find peace in their hearts."

Since Hasina's ousting, an caretaker administration led by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A parliamentary election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Awami League, Hasina's political party, was banned by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

She alerted during the past month that if the party's candidates were barred from participating in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the election.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. Authorities have sought her repatriation but so far India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

Her officially designated attorney Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the verdict had been different".

"I am unable to challenge because my defendants are not present; for that reason I am sad," he stated further.

Recently, Hasina's lawyers said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN highlighting significant due process and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina together with her ex-interior minister and top law enforcement officer.

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

"The anger against the former leader and the Awami League has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to news organizations. "The leader and her faction has apologised or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."

She said "It makes it difficult for the organization to receive endorsement by a most citizens in this country."

The campaigner further stated that the punishment was not finality for the relatives of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We support multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They cannot pardon her."

David Bergman, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it particularly hard" for Awami League to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This might transform if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the former hierarchy," he stated.