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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity due to her crackdown on youth demonstrations which led to her ousting.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, with approximately 1,400 individuals lost their lives during the turmoil last year.

Legal proceedings were conducted without her presence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India following her ouster in July 2024.

The prosecution alleged of being the mastermind of hundreds of killings during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The decision signifies a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Families of those killed and harmed had called for strict sentences.

Answering the judgment in a detailed document, the former leader stated the capital punishment was the caretaker administration's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was proud of her leadership's history on human rights.

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

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under increased safeguards before the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics staging a rally and cheering as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a sudden increase in turmoil, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the days leading up to the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, regional security representative the authorities' representative stated to media outlets.

The youth-driven revolt in the previous year started with requests to remove state employment quotas but morphed into a broader opposition campaign.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could constitute "violations of human dignity".

The report documented the gunfire from minimal distance of some protesters, the intentional injuring of others, unwarranted detentions and mistreatment.

Unauthorized recordings of one of Hasina's phone calls confirmed by investigative sources during the current year indicated 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, kin of those fatally injured in the unrest informed news agencies they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

One relative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "performed revengeful deeds and abused their power".

A different family member, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "implemented before the election".

"Only then the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

Since Hasina's ousting, an caretaker administration headed by economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A national vote is set for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the her former political organization, Hasina's political party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

She alerted during the past month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the vote.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to acquiesce.

The legal representative assigned to her Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the outcome had varied".

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; which is why I am disheartened," he continued.

Last week, the defense attorneys said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN raising serious fair trial and judicial process problems at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her former home minister and security forces head.

While the sentence offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may not significantly ease the nation's partisan rifts.

"The anger against the former leader and the her political party has not diminished," a human rights advocate from the capital told news organizations. "The leader and her faction has said sorry or displayed repentance for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The activist stated "This complicates matters for the party to be accepted by a majority of people in this state."

The activist added that the sentence was not resolution for the families of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We work with numerous persons who lost their limbs forever, they are currently without limbs, 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 "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for the political faction to become a regular participant of Bangladeshi politics again.

This may change if "an expression of regret occurs and a distancing from the former leader and the former hierarchy," he said.