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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for atrocities stemming from her crackdown on youth demonstrations which led to her ousting.

Hasina was declared culpable of authorizing deadly measures to be used against demonstrators, among whom around 1,400 people died during the unrest during 2024.

Legal proceedings were conducted in absentia by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

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

The decision signifies a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had demanded strict sentences.

Responding to the decision in a detailed document, she expressed the capital punishment was the interim government's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was satisfied of her administration's performance on civil liberties.

"I do not fear to meet my challengers in a fair court where the evidence can be weighed and reviewed impartially."

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 cheering as the judgment was announced.

The city has seen a notable rise in turmoil, with numerous incendiary devices set off and public transport vehicles burned in the time before the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, regional security representative the authorities' representative informed media outlets.

The student-led uprising last year began with requests to remove state employment quotas but transformed into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners stated in a document in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could amount to "crimes against humanity".

The report documented the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the purposeful disabling of others, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Leaked audio of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by external reviews during the current year implied she had authorized the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the trial.

Before the decision, kin of those killed during the protests told news agencies they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

A family representative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates 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 "implemented before the election".

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

Following her removal, an interim government led by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A general election is planned for February 2026.

However, the Awami League, Hasina's political party, was banned by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

She alerted in the previous month that if the party's candidates were banned from standing in the upcoming election, millions would boycott the vote.

The verdict now poses a international dilemma for both nations. Authorities have sought her return but until now India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer her legal counsel said he was "unhappy and desiring the outcome had varied".

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

The previous week, the defense attorneys said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN highlighting significant due process and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina alongside her previous domestic affairs official and top law enforcement officer.

Even though the verdict provides certain resolution to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at Hasina and the her political party has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told press agencies. "Both she and the organization has expressed regret or demonstrated contrition for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The activist stated "This creates challenges for the party to be accepted by a bulk of the population in this nation."

The activist added that the penalty was not closure for the relatives of those killed and injured.

"We work with numerous persons who lost their limbs forever, they are now disabled, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

David Bergman, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it even more difficult" for the political faction to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with the former leader and the previous administration," he stated.