Dhaka: Bangladesh's deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina was on Monday sentenced to death in absentia by a special tribunal for "crimes against humanity" committed during the wide-spread protests against her government in July last year.

Hasina, 78, who has been living in India since her government was toppled on August 5 last year, was sentenced by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD). She was earlier declared a fugitive by the court.

Reading out the judgment before a heavily guarded courtroom in Dhaka, the tribunal said the prosecution had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Hasina was behind the deadly crackdown on student-led protests between July 15 and August 15 last year.

A UN rights office report had earlier estimated that up to 1,400 people were killed during the month-

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