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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been handed capital punishment for human rights violations stemming from her severe measures on student-led protests which resulted in her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom lost their lives during the disturbances last year.

The trial proceeded while she was absent by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. She has refuted every accusation, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and injured had demanded severe punishments.

Answering the judgment in a five-page statement, she expressed the capital punishment was the interim government's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was satisfied of her administration's performance on individual freedoms.

"I do not fear to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under enhanced protection ahead of the ruling on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and cheering as the judgment was announced.

Dhaka experienced a sudden increase in turmoil, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the time before the verdict.

One explosive incident was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, area law enforcement officer Jisanul Haque told press agencies.

The youth-driven revolt last year commenced through demands to abolish state employment quotas but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

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

The paper detailed the gunfire from minimal distance of some protesters, the deliberate maiming of further participants, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of one of Hasina's phone calls verified by external reviews during the current year indicated she had approved the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

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

Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for her and co-accused who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and exploited their positions".

Lucky Akther, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "carried out before the election".

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

After her departure, an interim government led by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A general election is set for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Hasina's political party, her political faction, was banned by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

The former leader cautioned last month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the vote.

The verdict now poses a international dilemma for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but to date India has expressed no readiness to comply.

Her officially designated attorney Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "sad [and wishes] the verdict had been different".

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

The previous week, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising serious fair trial and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina in conjunction with her former home minister and police chief.

While the sentence offers some closure to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The anger against Hasina and the her political party has not subsided," a human rights advocate from the capital told media outlets. "The leader and her faction has expressed regret or shown any remorse for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The activist stated "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this state."

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

"We assist numerous persons who suffered permanent amputations, they are currently without limbs, due to the crackdown. They are incapable of excusing her."

A journalist, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it increasingly challenging" for her party to become a standard element of the country's governance system again.

This may change if "there is some kind of apology and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the previous administration," he stated.