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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been handed capital punishment for crimes against humanity over her harsh response on youth demonstrations which caused her removal from power.

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

The trial proceeded without her presence 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, labeling the proceedings as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The decision signifies a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had requested strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, the former leader stated the death penalty was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a governing body and that she was proud of her government's record on individual freedoms.

"I have no trepidation to meet my challengers in a fair court where the facts can be assessed and reviewed impartially."

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under increased safeguards before the verdict on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and cheering as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a recent spike in unrest, with dozens of bombs exploded and public transport vehicles burned in the time before the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, area law enforcement officer Jisanul Haque told press agencies.

The youth-driven revolt in the previous year commenced through demands to abolish public sector reservation policies but transformed into a wider anti-government movement.

International human rights monitors stated in a document in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could constitute "violations of human dignity".

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of some protesters, the intentional injuring of further participants, unwarranted detentions and mistreatment.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by investigative sources earlier this year indicated she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the proceedings.

Prior to the ruling, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations informed media representatives they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for the former leader and associates who have "committed acts of vengeance and exploited their positions".

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

"Only then the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will achieve closure in their hearts."

After her departure, an temporary leadership headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

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

She alerted in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were banned from standing in the forthcoming vote, millions would boycott the ballot.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but until now India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

Her officially designated attorney her legal counsel said he was "unhappy and desiring the outcome had varied".

"I am unable to challenge because my defendants are not present; for that reason I am sad," he continued.

The previous week, Hasina's lawyers said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN raising significant due process and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

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

Even though the verdict offers some closure to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told media outlets. "Both she and the organization has expressed regret or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "This creates challenges for the organization to receive endorsement by a most citizens in this country."

The advocate continued that the sentence was not resolution for the relatives of those who died and were wounded.

"We work with multiple individuals who suffered permanent amputations, they are now disabled, due to the crackdown. They cannot pardon her."

A journalist, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction 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 distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the former hierarchy," he stated.