DHAKA —A Bangladesh war crimes court sentenced ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to death on Monday (Nov 17), concluding a months-long trial that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year.

The ruling is the most dramatic legal action against a former Bangladeshi leader in decades and comes months ahead of parliamentary elections expected to be held in early February.

Hasina's Awami League party has been barred from contesting and it is feared that Monday's verdict could stoke fresh unrest ahead of the vote.

The International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh's domestic war crimes court located in the capital Dhaka, delivered the verdict amid tight security and in Hasina's absence after she fled to India in August 2024.

Hasina got a life sentence under charges for crimes against humanity and the death sentence for the killing of several people during the uprising.

There was cheering and clapping in the court after the death sentence was pronounced.

The verdict can be appealed in the Supreme Court.

But Hasina's son and adviser, Sajeeb Wazed, told Reuters on the eve of the verdict that they would not appeal unless a democratically elected government took office with the Awami League's participation.