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The country's previous leader has been given a death sentence for crimes against humanity stemming from her crackdown on youth demonstrations which caused her ousting.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of allowing lethal force to be used against demonstrators, among whom around 1,400 people died during the turmoil during 2024.

Legal proceedings were conducted in absentia by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. Hasina has denied the entire case, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

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

Responding to the decision in a comprehensive declaration, the former leader stated the death penalty was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a governing body and that she was content of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I am not afraid to meet my challengers in a fair court where the proof can be evaluated and tested fairly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under increased safeguards ahead of the verdict on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and cheering as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a notable rise in turmoil, with dozens of bombs exploded and public transport vehicles burned in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official the authorities' representative stated to media outlets.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 began with demands to abolish government job quotas but evolved into a broader opposition campaign.

UN human rights investigators said in a report in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could represent "crimes against humanity".

The study recorded the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Leaked audio of one of Hasina's phone calls authenticated by media examinations earlier this year suggested she had sanctioned the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the trial.

Prior to the ruling, kin of those who died in the demonstrations told media representatives they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

One relative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

A different family member, whose spouse died 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 achieve closure in their souls."

After her departure, an temporary leadership headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A parliamentary election is set for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Hasina's political party, her political faction, was outlawed by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

The former leader cautioned during the past month that if the the League's representatives were barred from participating in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the ballot.

The judgment creates a international dilemma for the neighboring countries. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "disappointed and hoping the outcome had varied".

"I am unable to challenge because my defendants are not present; for that reason I am sad," he continued.

Recently, Hasina's lawyers said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN highlighting serious fair trial and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina in conjunction with her ex-interior minister and security forces head.

While the sentence provides certain resolution to families of killed in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the state's ideological splits.

"The resentment towards the former leader and the Awami League has not subsided," a human rights advocate from the capital told press agencies. "The leader and her faction has expressed regret or displayed repentance for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "This complicates matters for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this state."

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

"We work with several people who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are currently without limbs, due to the crackdown. They are incapable of excusing her."

A journalist, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it even more difficult" for the political faction to become a normal feature of the nation's political landscape again.

This might transform if "there is some kind of apology and a distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the old leadership," he said.