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The country's previous leader has been handed capital punishment for atrocities stemming from her severe measures on protests led by students which resulted in her ousting.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of permitting fatal actions to be used against activists, among whom around 1,400 people lost their lives during the unrest in the previous year.

Legal proceedings were conducted in absentia by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being behind multiple fatalities during the protests. The former leader rejected all charges, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had requested severe punishments.

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, she expressed the execution sentence was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was satisfied of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

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

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under enhanced protection before the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and celebrating as the verdict was read.

The city has seen a recent spike in disturbances, with numerous incendiary devices set off and coaches ignited in the period preceding the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, regional security representative Jisanul Haque told media outlets.

The youth-driven revolt during 2024 started with calls to eliminate state employment quotas but transformed into a broader opposition campaign.

International human rights monitors said in a report in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could constitute "human rights atrocities".

The study recorded the firing at close quarters of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of further participants, unwarranted detentions and abuse.

Leaked audio of a telephone conversation involving Hasina confirmed by investigative sources during the current year suggested she had authorized the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the legal process.

Prior to the ruling, relatives of those fatally injured in the unrest told press outlets they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

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 husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted the former leader's punishment to be "executed before the election".

"Solely at that point the kin of victims [in the protests] will obtain solace in their souls."

Following her removal, an interim government under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

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

The former leader cautioned during the past month that if the party's candidates were barred from participating in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the vote.

This decision presents a diplomatic challenge for India and Bangladesh. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but so far India has shown no willingness to agree.

Her officially designated attorney her legal counsel said he was "disappointed and hoping the verdict had been different".

"I even cannot appeal because my represented individuals are away; that's why I am disappointed," he added.

Last week, Hasina's lawyers said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising major judicial fairness and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Hasina was tried in conjunction with her ex-interior minister and police chief.

Although the punishment offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may do little to soothe the country's political divisions.

"The resentment towards the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not subsided," a human rights advocate from the capital told news organizations. "Neither she nor the party has expressed regret or demonstrated contrition for the deaths of numerous individuals."

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

The advocate continued that the punishment was not closure for the kin of those who died and were wounded.

"We work with multiple individuals who suffered permanent amputations, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They will never be able to forgive her."

An analyst, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it increasingly challenging" for her party to become a standard element of the country's governance system again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the previous administration," he said.