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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been given a death sentence for atrocities over her harsh response on youth demonstrations which led to her removal from power.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against demonstrators, with approximately 1,400 individuals lost their lives during the unrest during 2024.

Legal proceedings were conducted while she was absent by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being behind numerous deaths during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, describing the process as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

This judgment represents a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Families of those killed and harmed had called for strict sentences.

Responding to the decision in a detailed document, she expressed the execution sentence was the temporary leadership's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was content of her administration's performance on individual freedoms.

"I have no trepidation to face my accusers in a fair court where the proof can be evaluated and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under enhanced protection before the ruling on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally and applauding as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in disturbances, with numerous incendiary devices set off and coaches ignited in the period preceding the verdict.

One explosive incident was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, area law enforcement officer the authorities' representative informed press agencies.

The student-led uprising during 2024 commenced through demands to abolish state employment quotas but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

United Nations rights examiners stated in a document in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could amount to "violations of human dignity".

The report documented the firing at close quarters of some protesters, the deliberate maiming of others, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina confirmed by external reviews in previous months implied she had authorized the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the trial.

Prior to the ruling, relatives of those killed during the protests told news agencies they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

One relative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

Lucky Akther, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "executed before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

Following her removal, an caretaker administration under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A general election is set for February 2026.

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

The former leader cautioned in the previous month that if the party's candidates were prohibited from running in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the election.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Authorities have sought her repatriation but until now India has shown no willingness to comply.

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

"I even cannot appeal because my represented individuals are away; which is why I am sad," he stated further.

Last week, Hasina's lawyers said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN raising serious fair trial and due process issues at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina alongside her former home minister and police chief.

Although the punishment provides certain resolution to families of killed in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the country's political divisions.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not diminished," a Dhaka-based rights activist stated to news organizations. "The leader and her faction has expressed regret or demonstrated contrition for the killings of hundreds of people."

The activist stated "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 penalty was not resolution for the kin of those killed and injured.

"We work with numerous persons who suffered permanent amputations, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They are incapable of excusing her."

A journalist, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it particularly hard" for the political faction to become a normal feature of the country's governance system again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the former hierarchy," he said.