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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity over her harsh response on youth demonstrations which resulted in her forced departure.

Hasina was declared culpable of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, with approximately 1,400 individuals lost their lives during the disturbances during 2024.

The trial proceeded in absentia by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. She has refuted the entire case, describing the process as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

This judgment represents a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had demanded tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, Hasina said the capital punishment was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was proud of her leadership's history on civil liberties.

"I have no trepidation to meet my challengers in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under enhanced protection prior to the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors holding a protest and applauding 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 period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, area law enforcement officer the police spokesperson informed news organizations.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 commenced through demands to abolish public sector reservation policies but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

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

The report documented the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of further participants, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment.

Leaked audio of a telephone conversation involving Hasina verified by investigative sources earlier this year indicated she had approved the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the legal process.

Prior to the ruling, kin of those fatally injured in the unrest told news agencies they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

Ramjan Ali, 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 misused their authority".

Another relative, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "implemented before the election".

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

Following her removal, an caretaker administration headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

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

Hasina warned during the past 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 the neighboring countries. The Bangladesh government has asked her repatriation but until now India has expressed no readiness to agree.

Her officially designated attorney the defense lawyer said he was "disappointed and hoping the verdict had been different".

"I am unable to challenge because my defendants are not present; which is why I am disappointed," he added.

Recently, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN pointing out serious fair trial and due process issues at the ICT.

Hasina was tried together with her previous domestic affairs official and security forces head.

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may do little to soothe the nation's partisan rifts.

"The resentment towards the former leader and the her political party has not diminished," a human rights advocate from the capital informed media outlets. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or displayed repentance for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The advocate declared "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a bulk of the population in this country."

The campaigner further stated that the punishment was not finality for the relatives of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We work with multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, as a result of the harsh measures. They will never be able to forgive her."

David Bergman, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it even more difficult" for her party to become a standard element of Bangladeshi politics again.

This may change if "there is some kind of apology and a distancing from the former leader and the previous administration," he said.