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Bangladesh's former prime minister has been handed capital punishment for crimes against humanity stemming from her crackdown on protests led by students which resulted in her ousting.

The court convicted Sheikh Hasina of authorizing deadly measures to be used against protesters, with approximately 1,400 individuals lost their lives during the turmoil in the previous year.

Legal proceedings were conducted without her presence by the special international tribunal in Bangladesh, as she resides in exile in India after being removed from office in July 2024.

Legal authorities charged her of being behind numerous deaths during the protests. The former leader rejected the entire case, describing the process as "unfair and agenda-driven".

This judgment represents a critical juncture for Bangladesh, as the protests unleashed anger over years of repression. Relatives of the deceased and injured had requested tough penalties.

Reacting to the verdict in a detailed document, she expressed the execution sentence was the caretaker administration's way of "eliminating her political faction" as a political force and that she was content of her leadership's history on individual freedoms.

"I do not fear to face my accusers in a just legal forum where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly."

Bangladesh's main city, Dhaka, where the legal proceedings occurred, was under enhanced protection before the verdict on Monday, with several of her detractors staging a rally and cheering as the sentence was declared.

The city has seen a notable rise in turmoil, with multiple explosives detonated and coaches ignited in the period preceding the verdict.

One explosive incident was recorded in Dhaka on Monday morning, with no victims identified, local police official the police spokesperson stated to news organizations.

The protest movement led by students in the previous year began with demands to abolish public sector reservation policies but morphed into a wider anti-government movement.

UN human rights investigators said in a report in February that the nearly 1,400 casualties could represent "violations of human dignity".

The study recorded the shooting at point-blank range of certain demonstrators, the intentional injuring of others, unjustified apprehensions and mistreatment.

Disclosed sound files of a call made by the former leader verified by investigative sources during the current year indicated she had approved the use of "fatal instruments" in July 2024. The sound file was broadcast in court during the proceedings.

Ahead of the verdict, kin of those who died in the demonstrations stated to press outlets they wanted the former leader to face strict penalties.

A family representative, whose brother was shot dead in July 2024, said he wanted "strict sentence" for Hasina and others who have "engaged in retaliatory actions and misused their authority".

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

"Exclusively thereafter the relatives of the deceased [in the protests] will find peace in their hearts."

Since Hasina's ousting, an temporary leadership led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has taken charge. A general election is scheduled for February 2026.

However, the her former political organization, Hasina's political party, was outlawed by Bangladesh's interim government in May.

The former leader cautioned in the previous month that if the her faction's nominees were banned from standing 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 Mohammad Amir Hossain said he was "unhappy and desiring the verdict had been different".

"I even cannot appeal because my clients are absent; for that reason I am disheartened," he stated further.

Last week, Hasina's lawyers said they had submitted an immediate petition to the UN highlighting major judicial fairness and legal procedure concerns at the ICT.

Legal proceedings involved Hasina in conjunction with her previous domestic affairs official and security forces head.

Even though the verdict provides certain resolution to relatives of the deceased in the protests, it may not significantly ease the nation's partisan rifts.

"The fury directed at Sheikh Hasina and the her political party has not diminished," a human rights advocate from the capital stated to press agencies. "Both she and the organization has expressed regret or demonstrated contrition for the fatalities of countless citizens."

The advocate declared "It makes it difficult for the faction to gain approval by a majority of people in this state."

The campaigner further stated that the punishment was not resolution for the kin of those fatally and non-fatally harmed.

"We support numerous persons who lost their limbs forever, they are now disabled, as a result of the harsh measures. They cannot pardon her."

David Bergman, a commentator on the nation's politics, said the "very nature of the conviction could make it increasingly challenging" for the political faction to become a standard element of the country's governance system again.

This may change if "there is some kind of apology and a disassociation with Hasina and the former hierarchy," he said.