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The country's previous leader has been handed capital punishment for atrocities over her severe measures on protests led by students which led to her removal from power.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of permitting fatal actions to be used against protesters, among whom around 1,400 people lost their lives during the turmoil in the previous year.

Legal proceedings were conducted in absentia by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being the mastermind of multiple fatalities during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, labeling the proceedings as "biased and politically motivated".

The verdict marks a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests brought forth resentment over years of repression. Families of those killed and injured had requested strict sentences.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, she expressed the capital punishment was the interim government's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League" as a political force and that she was content of her leadership's history on civil liberties.

"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the proof can be evaluated and tested fairly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under increased safeguards ahead of the ruling on Monday, with numerous opponents of Hasina staging a rally and cheering as the judgment was announced.

The capital witnessed a sudden increase in disturbances, with numerous incendiary devices set off and buses set on fire in the days leading up to the verdict.

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

The protest movement led by students in the previous year commenced through requests to remove state employment quotas but transformed into a wider anti-government movement.

UN human rights investigators declared in an analysis in February that the approximately 1,400 deaths could constitute "violations of human dignity".

The paper detailed the gunfire from minimal distance of certain demonstrators, the deliberate maiming of others, unjustified apprehensions and abuse.

Disclosed sound files of a call made by the former leader verified by investigative sources during the current year suggested she had sanctioned the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The recording was presented in court during the proceedings.

Before the decision, kin of those who died in the demonstrations told media representatives they wanted strict consequences for Hasina.

Ramjan Ali, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for the former leader and associates who have "committed acts of vengeance and exploited their positions".

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

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

Since Hasina's ousting, an caretaker administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A parliamentary election is set for February 2026.

However, the Hasina's political party, the former ruling party, was prohibited by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

Hasina warned during the past month that if the her faction's nominees were barred from participating in the upcoming election, millions would boycott the ballot.

The verdict now poses a international dilemma for India and Bangladesh. Authorities have sought her extradition but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to acquiesce.

Her officially designated attorney the defense lawyer said he was "disappointed and hoping the decision had been otherwise".

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

Last week, her legal team said they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN highlighting major judicial fairness and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Hasina was tried in conjunction with her ex-interior minister and security forces head.

Even though the verdict grants partial finality to families of killed in the protests, it may not significantly ease the state's ideological splits.

"The resentment towards the former leader and the the former ruling faction has not diminished," a human rights advocate from the capital informed news organizations. "The leader and her faction has said sorry or shown any remorse for the killings of hundreds of people."

She said "This creates challenges for the faction to gain approval by a majority of people in this state."

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

"We assist multiple individuals who suffered permanent amputations, they are amputees now, as a result of the harsh measures. They are incapable of excusing her."

A journalist, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "inherent character of the guilty verdict could make it particularly hard" for the political faction to become a standard element of the country's governance system again.

This might transform if "an expression of regret occurs and a disassociation with Hasina and the former hierarchy," he expressed.