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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been given a death sentence for human rights violations stemming from her severe measures on student-led protests which resulted in her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of authorizing deadly measures to be used against activists, 1,400 of whom were killed during the disturbances last year.

The trial proceeded in absentia by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. She has refuted all charges, calling the trial as "biased and politically motivated".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and injured had requested strict sentences.

Answering the judgment in a detailed document, the former leader stated the capital punishment was the temporary leadership's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a political force and that she was proud of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I am not afraid to meet my challengers in a proper tribunal where the facts can be assessed and tested fairly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under increased safeguards before the ruling on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and cheering as the sentence was declared.

The capital witnessed a notable rise in turmoil, with numerous incendiary devices set off and coaches ignited in the days leading up to the verdict.

One explosive incident was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, local police official the authorities' representative told press agencies.

The student-led uprising in the previous year began with demands to abolish public sector reservation policies but evolved into a wider anti-government movement.

International human rights monitors said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could represent "violations of human dignity".

The study recorded the firing at close quarters of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Leaked audio of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by investigative sources in previous months suggested she had sanctioned the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the trial.

Prior to the ruling, family members of those killed during the protests informed news agencies they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

One relative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for the former leader and associates who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and abused their power".

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

"Exclusively thereafter the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will obtain solace in their minds."

Since Hasina's ousting, an interim government under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A national vote is scheduled for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the her former political organization, her political faction, was prohibited by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

Hasina warned during the past month that if the the League's representatives were barred from participating in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the election.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for both nations. Authorities have sought her extradition but so far India has expressed no readiness to agree.

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

"I cannot even contest because my clients are absent; for that reason I am sad," he added.

Last week, the defense attorneys said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN raising significant due process and due process issues at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her ex-interior minister and security forces head.

While the sentence provides certain resolution to families of killed in the protests, it may do little to soothe the country's political divisions.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not decreased," a human rights advocate from the capital stated to news organizations. "The leader and her faction has said sorry or displayed repentance for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The advocate declared "This creates challenges for the faction to gain approval by a bulk of the population in this nation."

The campaigner further stated that the sentence was not resolution for the families of those killed and injured.

"We assist numerous persons who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, because of the suppression. They will never be able to forgive her."

David Bergman, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it increasingly challenging" for her party to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This may change if "a form of contrition emerges and a separation from the former leader and the old leadership," he stated.