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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been handed capital punishment for atrocities due to her crackdown on protests led by students which caused her ousting.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, with approximately 1,400 individuals were killed during the disturbances in the previous 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.

Prosecutors accused her of being the mastermind of hundreds of killings during the protests. Hasina has denied the entire case, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The verdict marks a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Families of those killed and wounded had demanded severe punishments.

Reacting to the verdict in a comprehensive declaration, she expressed the execution sentence was the caretaker administration's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was content of her administration's performance on civil liberties.

"I do not fear to meet my challengers in a fair court where the facts can be assessed and reviewed impartially."

The nation's capital, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under tightened security prior to the ruling on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics organizing a demonstration and cheering as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in disturbances, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the time before the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, area law enforcement officer Jisanul Haque informed news organizations.

The student-led uprising during 2024 started with demands to abolish government job quotas but morphed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

International human rights monitors said in a report in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could represent "crimes against humanity".

The report documented the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the purposeful disabling of others, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Leaked audio of a call made by the former leader verified by media examinations in previous months suggested she had approved the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the legal process.

Before the decision, kin of those who died in the demonstrations informed media representatives they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

Ramjan Ali, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and abused their power".

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

"Exclusively thereafter the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will find peace in their minds."

Since Hasina's ousting, an caretaker administration under the guidance of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A parliamentary election is set for February 2026.

However, the her former political organization, her political faction, was banned by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

She alerted in the previous month that if the her faction's nominees were prohibited from running in the imminent electoral process, millions would boycott the vote.

The judgment creates a international dilemma for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her repatriation but so far India has demonstrated no inclination to agree.

Her officially designated attorney the defense lawyer said he was "sad [and wishes] the verdict had been different".

"I am unable to challenge because my clients are absent; for that reason I am disappointed," he continued.

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

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

Although the punishment provides certain resolution to families of killed in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the nation's partisan rifts.

"The resentment towards the former leader and the Awami League has not diminished," a human rights advocate from the capital stated to press agencies. "Both she and the organization has expressed regret or demonstrated contrition for the fatalities of countless citizens."

She said "This complicates matters for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this nation."

The advocate continued that the sentence was not finality for the families of those killed and injured.

"We work with multiple individuals who suffered permanent amputations, they are currently without limbs, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

A journalist, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it even more difficult" for the political faction to become a standard element of the nation's political landscape again.

This may change if "a form of contrition emerges and a distancing from Sheikh Hasina and the old leadership," he said.