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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been sentenced to death for atrocities over her harsh response on student-led protests which led to her forced departure.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of allowing lethal force to be used against activists, among whom around 1,400 people were killed during the unrest last year.

Legal proceedings were conducted in absentia by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India following her ouster in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being responsible for hundreds of killings during the protests. The former leader rejected every accusation, calling the trial as "unfair and agenda-driven".

The verdict marks a decisive point for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over extended periods of oppression. Next of kin of victims and harmed had called for strict sentences.

Answering the judgment in a five-page statement, she expressed the execution sentence was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a electoral entity and that she was proud of her government's record on civil liberties.

"I have no trepidation to meet my challengers in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and reviewed impartially."

The capital, Dhaka, where the tribunal took place, was under increased safeguards ahead of the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally 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.

At least one bomb explosion was noted in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no casualties reported, regional security representative the authorities' representative informed news organizations.

The youth-driven revolt during 2024 commenced through calls to eliminate state employment quotas but transformed into a more extensive dissent initiative.

United Nations rights examiners declared in an analysis in February that the around 1,400 fatalities could amount to "violations of human dignity".

The study recorded the gunfire from minimal distance of some protesters, the purposeful disabling of additional individuals, unjustified apprehensions and torture.

Unauthorized recordings of a call made by the former leader verified by external reviews during the current year indicated she had authorized the use of "deadly arms" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the trial.

Prior to the ruling, family members of those who died in the demonstrations told media representatives they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

One relative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for Hasina and others who have "performed revengeful deeds and exploited their positions".

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

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

After her departure, an caretaker administration under the guidance of economic expert Muhammad Yunus has assumed control. A general election is planned for February 2026.

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

She alerted last month that if the her faction's nominees were banned from standing in the forthcoming vote, millions would boycott the election.

The verdict now poses a international dilemma for the neighboring countries. Dhaka has formally requested her return but until now India has expressed no readiness to agree.

Her officially designated attorney the defense lawyer said he was "sad [and wishes] the decision had been otherwise".

"I cannot even contest because my clients are absent; for that reason I am disheartened," he added.

Last week, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising serious fair trial and due process issues at the ICT.

Hasina was tried alongside her ex-interior minister and top law enforcement officer.

While the sentence offers some closure to kin of victims in the protests, it may do little to soothe the nation's partisan rifts.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the her political party has not subsided," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka informed media outlets. "Neither she nor the party has apologised or demonstrated contrition for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "It makes it difficult for the organization to receive endorsement by a bulk of the population in this state."

The advocate continued that the penalty was not resolution for the relatives of those killed and injured.

"We assist multiple individuals who suffered permanent amputations, they are currently without limbs, as a result of the harsh measures. They will never be able to forgive her."

An analyst, a journalist and a long-time Bangladesh watcher, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it particularly hard" for Awami League to become a normal feature of the country's governance system again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a disassociation with Sheikh Hasina and the old leadership," he said.