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The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for atrocities over her crackdown on protests led by students which resulted in her ousting.

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the turmoil last year.

Legal proceedings were conducted without her presence by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. Hasina has denied all charges, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The verdict marks a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Families of those killed and injured had called for severe punishments.

Answering the judgment in a detailed document, the former leader stated the capital punishment was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was content of her administration's performance on civil liberties.

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

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under tightened security ahead of the verdict on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina organizing a demonstration and cheering as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in disturbances, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the days leading up to the verdict.

One explosive incident was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official the authorities' representative told media outlets.

The youth-driven revolt last year started with requests to remove public sector reservation policies but transformed into a broader opposition campaign.

UN human rights investigators said in a report in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could represent "crimes against humanity".

The report documented the gunfire from minimal distance of some protesters, the intentional injuring of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Leaked audio of a telephone conversation involving Hasina confirmed by media examinations during the current year suggested she had approved the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the proceedings.

Before the decision, kin of those who died in the demonstrations stated to media representatives they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

One relative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for her and co-accused who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and abused their power".

Another relative, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "executed before the election".

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

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

However, the her former political organization, the former ruling party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

She alerted last month that if the party's candidates were banned from standing in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the ballot.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her repatriation but until now India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

Her officially designated attorney Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "disappointed and hoping the outcome had varied".

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; that's why I am disheartened," he stated further.

The previous week, Hasina's lawyers said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising significant due process and due process issues at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial together with her former home minister and top law enforcement officer.

Even though the verdict provides certain resolution to kin of victims in the protests, it may do little to soothe the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not subsided," a human rights advocate from the capital informed news organizations. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or demonstrated contrition for the deaths of numerous individuals."

She said "This complicates matters for the party to be accepted by a majority of people in this nation."

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

"We assist numerous persons who suffered permanent amputations, they are now disabled, due to the crackdown. They will never be able to forgive her."

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

This could alter if "there is some kind of apology and a distancing from the former leader and the old leadership," he stated.