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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been handed capital punishment for crimes against humanity due to her severe measures on student-led protests which caused her removal from power.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of permitting fatal actions to be used against demonstrators, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the turmoil last year.

The trial proceeded in absentia by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being behind hundreds of killings during the protests. She has refuted all charges, describing the process as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The decision signifies a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had called for severe punishments.

Answering the judgment in a detailed document, she expressed the death penalty was the temporary leadership's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was proud of her government's record on human rights.

"I do not fear to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the proof can be evaluated and examined justly."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under tightened security prior to the verdict on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina organizing a demonstration and applauding as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in unrest, with multiple explosives detonated and coaches ignited in the time before the verdict.

One explosive incident was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official the authorities' representative told media outlets.

The student-led uprising last year began with calls to eliminate government job quotas but evolved into a broader opposition campaign.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could represent "violations of human dignity".

The study recorded the shooting at point-blank range of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of further participants, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls confirmed by external reviews in previous months implied she had authorized the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

Before the decision, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations stated to press outlets they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

A family representative, whose sibling was killed 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 partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "carried out before the election".

"Only then the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

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

Nonetheless, the her former political organization, the former ruling party, was banned by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

The former leader cautioned last month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the election.

This decision presents a diplomatic challenge for the neighboring countries. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but to date India has expressed no readiness to agree.

Her officially designated attorney her legal counsel said he was "sad [and wishes] the verdict had been different".

"I cannot even contest because my defendants are not present; which is why I am disappointed," he added.

The previous week, Hasina's lawyers said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN raising major judicial fairness and due process issues at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina in conjunction with her previous domestic affairs official and top law enforcement officer.

Although the punishment offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The resentment towards Hasina and the her political party has not decreased," a human rights advocate from the capital told news organizations. "Neither she nor the party has said sorry or demonstrated contrition for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The advocate declared "This complicates matters for the party to be accepted by a bulk of the population in this nation."

The advocate continued that the punishment was not resolution for the relatives of those killed and injured.

"We assist multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, due to the crackdown. They will never be able to forgive her."

An analyst, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it particularly hard" for the political faction to become a regular participant of the nation's political landscape again.

This may change if "an expression of regret occurs and a disassociation with the former leader and the previous administration," he said.