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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been handed capital punishment for atrocities stemming from her harsh response on protests led by students which resulted in her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against demonstrators, 1,400 of whom lost their lives 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 since she was forced from power in July 2024.

Prosecutors accused her of being responsible for numerous deaths during the protests. Hasina has denied the entire case, calling the trial as "prejudiced and driven by politics".

The decision signifies a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over long-standing suppression. Next of kin of victims and injured had requested severe punishments.

Answering the judgment in a five-page statement, Hasina said the capital punishment was the caretaker administration's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a political force and that she was content of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

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

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under enhanced protection prior to the decision on Monday, with many of Hasina's critics holding a protest and celebrating as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a recent spike in disturbances, with multiple explosives detonated and buses set on fire in the days leading up to the verdict.

A minimum of one detonation was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official the authorities' representative stated to press agencies.

The protest movement led by students in the previous year commenced through demands to abolish government job quotas but morphed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

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

The report documented the firing at close quarters of some protesters, the purposeful disabling of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Disclosed sound files of one of Hasina's phone calls confirmed by external reviews in previous months suggested she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the trial.

Before the decision, relatives of those who died in the demonstrations told news agencies they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

A family representative, whose sibling was killed in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for her and co-accused who have "committed acts of vengeance and misused their authority".

Lucky Akther, whose partner was fatally injured near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "executed before the election".

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

After her departure, an temporary leadership headed by economist Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A parliamentary election is planned for February 2026.

Nevertheless, the Awami League, her political faction, 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 upcoming election, numerous would avoid the ballot.

The verdict now poses a international dilemma for India and Bangladesh. Dhaka has formally requested her repatriation but until now India has expressed no readiness to acquiesce.

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

"I cannot even contest because my defendants are not present; for that reason I am sad," he added.

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

Legal proceedings involved Hasina in conjunction with her former home minister and police chief.

While the sentence offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may do little to soothe the country's political divisions.

"The resentment towards Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed news organizations. "Both she and the organization has apologised or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

The advocate declared "It makes it difficult for the party to be accepted by a most citizens in this state."

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

"We assist numerous persons who lost their limbs forever, they are now disabled, because of the suppression. They cannot pardon her."

David Bergman, 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 normal feature of Bangladeshi politics again.

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