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The country's previous leader has been handed capital punishment for atrocities over her crackdown on youth demonstrations which led to her ousting.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom died during the turmoil during 2024.

The trial proceeded without her presence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being responsible for hundreds of killings during the protests. Hasina has denied the entire case, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

This judgment represents a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had demanded strict sentences.

Responding to the decision in a five-page statement, the former leader stated the capital punishment was the interim government's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a electoral entity and that she was satisfied of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I am not afraid to confront those accusing me in a fair court where the evidence can be weighed and reviewed impartially."

The capital, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under tightened security before 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 turmoil, with multiple explosives detonated and public transport vehicles burned in the period preceding the verdict.

One explosive incident was reported in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, regional security representative the police spokesperson informed media outlets.

The protest movement led by students during 2024 commenced through calls to eliminate state employment quotas but morphed into a broader opposition campaign.

International human rights monitors said in a report in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could represent "human rights atrocities".

The report documented the gunfire from minimal distance of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of further participants, unjustified apprehensions and abuse.

Disclosed sound files of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by external reviews earlier this year suggested she had approved the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the proceedings.

Ahead of the verdict, family members of those fatally injured in the unrest told news agencies they wanted Hasina to be punished severely.

One relative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "severe penalty" for the former leader and associates who have "engaged in retaliatory actions 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 obtain solace in their souls."

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

Nevertheless, the Hasina's political party, the former ruling party, was banned by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

The former leader cautioned in the previous month that if the the League's representatives were prohibited from running in the imminent electoral process, millions would boycott the election.

This decision presents a foreign relations issue for both nations. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but so far India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

Her officially designated attorney Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "sad [and wishes] the verdict had been different".

"I am unable to challenge because my represented individuals are away; that's why I am disheartened," he stated further.

The previous week, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN highlighting serious fair trial and judicial process problems at the ICT.

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

Even though the verdict offers some closure to families of killed in the protests, it may do little to soothe the state's ideological splits.

"The resentment towards Hasina and the her political party has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told media outlets. "The leader and her faction has said sorry or demonstrated contrition for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The activist stated "This creates challenges for the organization to receive endorsement by a most citizens in this nation."

The campaigner further stated that the punishment was not finality for the families of those killed and injured.

"We assist multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are now disabled, as a result of the harsh measures. They are incapable of excusing her."

A journalist, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it increasingly challenging" for her party to become a standard element of the country's governance system again.

This may change if "there is some kind of apology and a distancing from Hasina and the previous administration," he stated.