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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been handed capital punishment for atrocities stemming from her harsh response on protests led by students which resulted in her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom were killed during the turmoil during 2024.

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

Prosecutors accused her of being responsible for multiple fatalities during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, describing the process as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over long-standing suppression. Families of those killed and injured had demanded strict sentences.

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, she expressed the execution sentence was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was proud of her administration's performance on individual freedoms.

"I do not fear to meet my challengers in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and reviewed impartially."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards before the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics organizing a demonstration and applauding as the sentence was declared.

The capital witnessed a notable rise in disturbances, with dozens of bombs exploded and public transport vehicles burned in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, area law enforcement officer the authorities' representative informed press agencies.

The protest movement led by students last year commenced through demands to abolish government job quotas but morphed into a broader opposition campaign.

UN human rights investigators declared in an analysis in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could represent "human rights atrocities".

The paper detailed the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of a call made by the former leader authenticated by investigative sources earlier this year indicated she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.

Prior to the ruling, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations informed news agencies they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

Ramjan Ali, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for Hasina and others who have "committed acts of vengeance and exploited their positions".

A different family member, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "carried out before the election".

"Only then the families of those killed [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

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

Nonetheless, the Hasina's political party, the former ruling party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

Hasina warned during the past month that if the her faction's nominees were banned from standing in the upcoming election, millions would boycott the election.

The verdict now poses a foreign relations issue for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her repatriation but so far India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

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

"I am unable to challenge because my defendants are not present; that's why I am disheartened," he continued.

Recently, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN pointing out significant due process and judicial process problems at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial alongside her former home minister and police chief.

While the sentence grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The resentment towards the former leader and the her political party has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed media outlets. "The leader and her faction has apologised or displayed repentance for the killings of hundreds of people."

The advocate declared "It makes it difficult for the organization to receive endorsement by a most citizens in this state."

The campaigner further stated that the sentence was not finality for the families of those who died and were wounded.

"We support several people who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, due to the crackdown. They will never be able to forgive her."

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

This may change if "there is some kind of apology and a separation from Hasina and the former hierarchy," he said.