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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been handed capital punishment for human rights violations over her crackdown on youth demonstrations which caused her ousting.

Hasina was declared culpable of allowing lethal force to be used against protesters, 1,400 of whom were killed during the disturbances last year.

Legal proceedings were conducted while she was absent by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being the mastermind of hundreds of killings during the protests. She has refuted all charges, calling the trial as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Relatives of the deceased and injured had called for tough penalties.

Answering the judgment in a detailed document, Hasina said the death penalty was the caretaker administration's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a governing body and that she was proud of her government's record on individual freedoms.

"I have no trepidation to confront those accusing me in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and examined justly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under increased safeguards ahead of the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and cheering as the judgment was announced.

The city has seen a recent spike in turmoil, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the period preceding the verdict.

At least one bomb explosion was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official the authorities' representative told media outlets.

The protest movement led by students last year started with requests to remove government job quotas but morphed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

United Nations rights examiners said in a report in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could amount to "violations of human dignity".

The report documented the shooting at point-blank range of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of others, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of a telephone conversation involving Hasina authenticated by media examinations in previous months indicated she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the legal process.

Before the decision, relatives of those fatally injured in the unrest told press outlets they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

One relative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for the former leader and associates who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and abused their power".

Another relative, whose spouse died near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted her penalty to be "carried out before the election".

"Only then the kin of victims [in the protests] will obtain solace in their hearts."

Since Hasina's ousting, an caretaker administration led by economist Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A national vote is scheduled for February 2026.

However, the Awami League, the former ruling party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's temporary leadership in May.

She alerted during the past month that if the party's candidates were prohibited from running in the upcoming election, countless would abstain the election.

The judgment creates a diplomatic challenge for both nations. Dhaka has formally requested her return but so far India has expressed no readiness to agree.

Her officially designated attorney Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "sad [and wishes] the outcome had varied".

"I even cannot appeal because my represented individuals are away; that's why I am disheartened," he continued.

Last week, the defense attorneys said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN pointing out major judicial fairness and due process issues at the ICT.

The former leader faced trial together with her former home minister and police chief.

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

"The resentment towards Sheikh Hasina and the the former ruling faction has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka told media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has apologised or demonstrated contrition for the fatalities of countless citizens."

She said "This complicates matters for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this state."

The campaigner further stated that the penalty was not resolution for the kin of those killed and injured.

"We assist several people who suffered permanent amputations, they are currently without limbs, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon 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 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 disassociation with Hasina and the previous administration," he stated.