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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been handed capital punishment for human rights violations over her severe measures on youth demonstrations which caused her forced departure.

Hasina was declared culpable of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the turmoil in the previous year.

The trial proceeded without her presence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of hundreds of killings during the protests. Hasina has denied every accusation, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

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

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, the former leader stated the execution sentence was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a governing body and that she was proud of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I do not fear to face my accusers in a fair court where the evidence can be weighed and reviewed impartially."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under increased safeguards prior to the decision on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina holding a protest and celebrating as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a recent spike in turmoil, with numerous incendiary devices set off and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, regional security representative the authorities' representative stated to news organizations.

The protest movement led by students last year started with calls to eliminate public sector reservation policies but evolved into a broader opposition campaign.

UN human rights investigators declared in an analysis in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could constitute "violations of human dignity".

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of others, unjustified apprehensions and abuse.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina confirmed by media examinations earlier this year indicated she had authorized the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the legal process.

Prior to the ruling, family members of those who died in the demonstrations 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 "performed revengeful deeds and exploited their positions".

A different family member, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "carried out before the election".

"Only then the families of those killed [in the protests] will achieve closure in their hearts."

After her departure, an interim government headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A parliamentary election is scheduled for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the her former political organization, Hasina's political party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

She alerted last month that if the the League's representatives were banned from standing in the imminent electoral process, countless would abstain the election.

The judgment creates a diplomatic challenge for the neighboring countries. The Bangladesh government has asked her extradition but so far India has expressed no readiness to comply.

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

"I cannot even contest because my defendants are not present; that's why I am disappointed," he added.

Last week, her legal team said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN raising serious fair trial and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her ex-interior minister and police chief.

Although the punishment offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the state's ideological splits.

"The fury directed at the former leader and the Awami League has not diminished," a Dhaka-based rights activist stated to media outlets. "The leader and her faction has expressed regret or displayed repentance for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "It makes it difficult for the faction to gain approval by a majority of people in this country."

The campaigner further stated that the sentence was not resolution for the families of those who died and were wounded.

"We support several people who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

An analyst, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "fundamental aspect of the condemnation could make it particularly hard" for Awami League to become a normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

This may change if "there is some kind of apology and a separation from the former leader and the old leadership," he expressed.