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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been handed capital punishment for crimes against humanity stemming from her harsh response on student-led protests which caused her removal from power.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against activists, among whom around 1,400 people lost their lives during the turmoil last year.

Hasina was tried while she was absent by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being responsible for numerous deaths during the protests. She has refuted every accusation, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The decision signifies a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over years of repression. Next of kin of victims and injured had called for tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, she expressed the execution sentence was the interim government's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a political force and that she was content of her leadership's history on civil liberties.

"I have no trepidation to confront those accusing me in a fair court where the proof can be evaluated and tested fairly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under increased safeguards before the ruling on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally and celebrating as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a recent spike in turmoil, with dozens of bombs exploded and buses set on fire in the period preceding the verdict.

One explosive incident was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, area law enforcement officer the authorities' representative stated to news organizations.

The youth-driven revolt in the previous year commenced through calls to eliminate government job quotas but morphed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could constitute "violations of human dignity".

The paper detailed the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the purposeful disabling of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Leaked audio of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by external reviews earlier this year suggested she had authorized the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the proceedings.

Before the decision, family members of those who died in the demonstrations told news agencies they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

Ramjan Ali, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for the former leader and associates who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

A different family member, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "implemented before the election".

"Only then the families of those killed [in the protests] will find peace in their minds."

Following her removal, an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A national vote is scheduled for February 2026.

However, the Awami League, the former ruling party, was banned by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

Hasina warned in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were barred from participating in the forthcoming vote, numerous would avoid the election.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her extradition but so far India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

The legal representative assigned to her Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "disappointed and hoping the decision had been otherwise".

"I cannot even contest because my clients are absent; that's why I am sad," he continued.

Recently, Hasina's lawyers said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising major judicial fairness and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her former home minister and security forces head.

While the sentence grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the state's ideological splits.

"The resentment towards Sheikh Hasina and the her political party has not diminished," a Dhaka-based rights activist stated to press agencies. "Both she and the organization has expressed regret or shown any remorse for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The activist stated "This creates challenges for the party to be accepted by a majority of people in this state."

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

"We work with multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are currently without limbs, as a result of the harsh measures. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it even more difficult" for her party to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "an expression of regret occurs and a separation from Hasina and the old leadership," he stated.