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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been given a death sentence for human rights violations over her severe measures on protests led by students which caused her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the disturbances in the previous year.

The trial proceeded in absentia by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being behind multiple fatalities during the protests. She has refuted all charges, describing the process as "biased and politically motivated".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Relatives of the deceased and injured had requested severe punishments.

Answering the judgment in a five-page statement, she expressed the execution sentence was the interim government's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was satisfied of her administration's performance on human rights.

"I am not afraid to confront those accusing me in a just legal forum where the proof can be evaluated and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security prior to the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and cheering as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a recent spike in disturbances, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the time before the verdict.

One explosive incident was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, regional security representative Jisanul Haque informed media outlets.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 began with calls to eliminate state employment quotas but transformed into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners said in a report in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could represent "violations of human dignity".

The report documented the firing at close quarters of some protesters, the deliberate maiming of further participants, unwarranted detentions and abuse.

Leaked audio of a call made by the former leader confirmed by media examinations earlier this year suggested she had authorized the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

Before the decision, kin of those fatally injured in the unrest told media representatives they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

Ramjan Ali, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for the former leader and associates who have "performed revengeful deeds and exploited their positions".

Another relative, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "carried out before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the kin of victims [in the protests] will obtain solace in their minds."

Following her removal, an temporary leadership under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A national vote is scheduled for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the her former political organization, her political faction, was prohibited by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

She alerted in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, millions would boycott the election.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her return but so far India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

Her officially designated attorney the defense lawyer said he was "sad [and wishes] the verdict had been different".

"I am unable to challenge because my clients are absent; for that reason I am disappointed," he stated further.

Recently, the defense attorneys said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN highlighting serious fair trial and due process issues at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial alongside her former home minister and security forces head.

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

"The resentment towards the former leader and the Awami League has not subsided," a Dhaka-based rights activist stated to press agencies. "The leader and her faction has said sorry or displayed repentance for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The activist stated "This complicates matters for the party to be accepted by a majority of people in this country."

The activist added that the sentence was not resolution for the families of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We work with multiple individuals who suffered permanent amputations, they are currently without limbs, because of the suppression. They will never be able to forgive her."

An analyst, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it increasingly challenging" for the political faction to become a normal feature of the country's governance system again.

This could alter if "there is some kind of apology and a disassociation with Hasina and the old leadership," he stated.