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The ex-prime minister of Bangladesh has been given a death sentence for crimes against humanity stemming from her crackdown on youth demonstrations which caused her ousting.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of authorizing deadly measures to be used against activists, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the turmoil during 2024.

Hasina was tried while she was absent by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, since she went into exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being behind numerous deaths during the protests. Hasina has denied all charges, describing the process as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had requested tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, Hasina said the death penalty was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a governing body and that she was satisfied of her administration's performance on individual freedoms.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a fair court where the facts can be assessed and examined justly."

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security prior to the verdict on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics organizing a demonstration and cheering as the judgment was announced.

Dhaka experienced a recent spike in disturbances, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the time before the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, area law enforcement officer the police spokesperson stated to media outlets.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 started with demands to abolish state employment quotas but transformed into a broader opposition campaign.

International human rights monitors stated in a document in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could amount to "violations of human dignity".

The paper detailed the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of further participants, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls verified by media examinations during the current year suggested she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the proceedings.

Prior to the ruling, kin of those fatally injured in the unrest informed press outlets they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

A family representative, whose family member was fatally wounded 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 "carried out before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the families of those killed [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

Since Hasina's ousting, an temporary leadership led by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A parliamentary election is planned for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Awami League, the former ruling party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

She alerted in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the forthcoming vote, numerous would avoid the election.

The judgment creates a international dilemma for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her return but so far India has shown no willingness to agree.

The legal representative assigned to her her legal counsel said he was "unhappy and desiring the decision had been otherwise".

"I am unable to challenge because my clients are absent; which is why I am sad," he continued.

Recently, the defense attorneys said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising significant due process and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Hasina was tried in conjunction with her previous domestic affairs official and police chief.

Although the punishment grants partial finality to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may not significantly ease the country's political divisions.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed press agencies. "Both she and the organization has said sorry or displayed repentance for the killings of hundreds of people."

The activist stated "It makes it difficult for the faction to gain approval by a most citizens in this country."

The campaigner further stated that the sentence was not closure for the families of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We support several people who lost their limbs forever, they are currently without limbs, due to the crackdown. They will never be able to forgive her."

An analyst, an observer of Bangladeshi affairs, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for Awami League to become a regular participant of Bangladeshi politics again.

This could alter if "an expression of regret occurs and a separation from the former leader and the former hierarchy," he said.