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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been handed capital punishment for atrocities over her severe measures on youth demonstrations which resulted in her removal from power.

Hasina was declared culpable of authorizing deadly measures to be used against demonstrators, 1,400 of whom lost their lives during the turmoil in the previous year.

Hasina was tried in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being responsible for multiple fatalities during the protests. She has refuted all charges, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over long-standing suppression. Families of those killed and injured had demanded severe punishments.

Answering the judgment in a comprehensive declaration, Hasina said the death penalty was the temporary leadership's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was content of her administration's performance on civil liberties.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards before the ruling on Monday, with several of her detractors holding a protest and applauding as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a recent spike in turmoil, with multiple explosives detonated and public transport vehicles burned in the time before the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, area law enforcement officer the authorities' representative informed media outlets.

The student-led uprising last year began with requests to remove public sector reservation policies but morphed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could amount to "crimes against humanity".

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of some protesters, the intentional injuring of others, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Leaked audio of a call made by the former leader authenticated by investigative sources in previous months implied she had authorized the use of "lethal weapons" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the trial.

Prior to the ruling, relatives of those killed during the protests told media representatives they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

Ramjan Ali, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for Hasina and others who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

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

"Exclusively thereafter the kin of victims [in the protests] will find peace in their souls."

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

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

The former leader cautioned in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were barred from participating in the forthcoming vote, countless would abstain the ballot.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but to date India has expressed no readiness to comply.

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

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; for that reason I am disheartened," he stated further.

Recently, Hasina's lawyers said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN pointing out major judicial fairness and due process issues at the ICT.

Hasina was tried together with her former home minister and police chief.

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the country's political divisions.

"The anger against the former leader and the her political party has not diminished," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told media outlets. "Both she and the organization has apologised or demonstrated contrition for the deaths of numerous individuals."

She said "This creates challenges for the party to be accepted by a bulk of the population in this state."

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

"We work with several people who lost their limbs forever, they are amputees now, due to the crackdown. They cannot pardon her."

David Bergman, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it even more difficult" for her party to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This may change if "there is some kind of apology and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the previous administration," he expressed.