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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been handed capital punishment for atrocities stemming from her harsh response on student-led protests which caused her removal from power.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of permitting fatal actions to be used against demonstrators, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the unrest last year.

Legal proceedings were conducted in absentia by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, having been exiled 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 the entire case, describing the process as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Relatives of the deceased and injured had called for tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, she expressed the capital punishment was the temporary leadership's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was proud of her government's record on human rights.

"I do not fear to meet my challengers in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards before the verdict on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics organizing a demonstration and cheering as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a recent spike in unrest, with dozens of bombs exploded and public transport vehicles burned in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official Jisanul Haque stated to press agencies.

The student-led uprising in the previous year commenced through requests to remove state employment quotas but transformed into a wider anti-government movement.

UN human rights investigators declared in an analysis in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could represent "crimes against humanity".

The report documented the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the intentional injuring of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Unauthorized recordings of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by external reviews during the current year suggested she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

Before the decision, relatives of those killed during the protests stated to press outlets they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "performed revengeful deeds and abused their power".

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

"Solely at that point the kin of victims [in the protests] will obtain solace in their hearts."

After her departure, an temporary leadership headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A general election is set for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Awami League, Hasina's political party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

The former leader cautioned last month that if the her faction's nominees were banned from standing in the imminent electoral process, millions would boycott the election.

This decision presents a international dilemma for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but until now India has shown no willingness to comply.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer her legal counsel said he was "sad [and wishes] the decision had been otherwise".

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

Last week, her legal team said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN raising major judicial fairness and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina alongside her previous domestic affairs official and security forces head.

While the sentence offers some closure to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may do little to soothe the country's political divisions.

"The resentment towards Hasina and the her political party has not diminished," a Dhaka-based rights activist told news organizations. "Neither she nor the party has said sorry or demonstrated contrition for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The activist stated "This complicates matters for the faction to gain approval by a bulk of the population in this country."

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

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

David Bergman, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for Awami League to become a regular participant of the country's governance system again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the former hierarchy," he said.