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The country's previous leader has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity due to her crackdown on youth demonstrations which resulted in her ousting.

Sheikh Hasina was found guilty of authorizing deadly measures to be used against demonstrators, with approximately 1,400 individuals were killed during the disturbances in the previous year.

Hasina was tried in absentia by the International Crimes Court in Bangladesh, having been exiled in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being responsible for numerous deaths during the protests. She has refuted all charges, labeling the proceedings as "unfair and agenda-driven".

This judgment represents a pivotal moment for Bangladesh, as the protests revealed fury over years of repression. Next of kin of victims and wounded had requested tough penalties.

Answering the judgment in a detailed document, Hasina said the death penalty was the caretaker administration's way of "eradicating the Awami League" as a political force and that she was proud of her leadership's history on civil liberties.

"I am not afraid to meet my challengers in a fair court where the facts can be assessed and tested fairly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the court convened, was under increased safeguards prior to the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors holding a protest and applauding as the verdict was read.

Dhaka experienced a notable rise in turmoil, with dozens of bombs exploded and coaches ignited in the days leading up to the verdict.

One explosive incident was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with zero injuries documented, local police official Jisanul Haque told news organizations.

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

United Nations rights examiners stated in a document in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could represent "human rights atrocities".

The study recorded the firing at close quarters of a number of activists, the deliberate maiming of others, arbitrary arrests and abuse.

Unauthorized recordings of a call made by the former leader verified by external reviews earlier this year implied she had authorized the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the trial.

Before the decision, family members of those killed during the protests informed press outlets they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

One relative, whose family member was fatally wounded in July 2024, said he wanted "exemplary punishment" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and abused their power".

A different family member, whose husband was killed near Dhaka in August 2024, said she wanted Hasina's sentence to be "implemented before the election".

"Exclusively thereafter the kin of victims [in the protests] will achieve closure in their minds."

After her departure, an caretaker administration headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has assumed power. A national vote is set for February 2026.

Nonetheless, the Awami League, Hasina's political party, was banned by Bangladesh's caretaker administration in May.

The former leader cautioned during the past month that if the party's candidates were barred from participating in the forthcoming vote, numerous would avoid the election.

The judgment creates a foreign relations issue for the neighboring countries. The Bangladesh government has asked her return but to date India has demonstrated no inclination to comply.

Hasina's state-appointed lawyer her legal counsel said he was "unhappy and desiring the decision had been otherwise".

"I am unable to challenge because my represented individuals are away; which is why I am sad," he added.

The previous week, the defense attorneys said they had lodged a prompt application to the UN pointing out serious fair trial and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

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

While the sentence grants partial finality to families of killed in the protests, it may have minimal effect on calming the nation's partisan rifts.

"The anger against the former leader and the Awami League has not decreased," a civil liberties campaigner in Dhaka stated to press agencies. "Neither she nor the party has said sorry or demonstrated contrition for the deaths of numerous individuals."

The advocate declared "This creates challenges for the party to be accepted by a bulk of the population in this state."

The advocate continued that the sentence was not closure for the relatives of those who died and were wounded.

"We work with multiple individuals who underwent irreversible limb loss, they are amputees now, due to the crackdown. They will never be able to forgive her."

An analyst, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it even more difficult" for her party to become a normal feature of the country's governance system again.

This could alter if "a form of contrition emerges and a separation from the former leader and the former hierarchy," he stated.