Bangladesh's deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death for crimes against humanity during July uprising last year.
Former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal was also awarded death penalty while former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who became a state witness, was sentenced to five years' imprisonment in the case. 
The court also ordered to confiscate the properties of Hasina and Asaduzzaman in favour of the state. 
Asaduzzaman is fugitive while Mamun is in custody and has pleaded guilty. Mamun has also become a state witness, the first accused to do so since the tribunal was set up in 2010.
The three-member International Crimes Tribunal, led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, started reading portions of the 453-page judgement around 12:30pm, amid tight security and a packed courtroom.
According to the judgement, Hasina, 78, who is now in India, was sentenced to death on two counts.
She was handed the death penalty for Count 4 concerning the shooting and killing of six unarmed protesters in Dhaka's Chankharpul on August 5 last year. Under Count 5, the defendants were charged with shooting six student protesters in Ashulia on the same day — five of whom were later burned after death, while the sixth was allegedly set on fire while still alive.
Hasina was also sentenced to imprisonment until natural death for making inflammatory remarks and ordering the use of deadly weapons against protesting students. Under Count 2, she was found guilty of ordering the extermination of student protesters through the use of helicopters, drones, and lethal weapons.
After the verdict, Hasina, in a statement, said the verdict announced against her today were "biased and politically motivated".
"I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where evidence can be weighed and tested fairly," Reuters quoted Hasina as saying.
According to the tribunal, Asaduzzaman was sentenced to death on two charges.
Prosecutors filed five counts against the accused, including failure to prevent murder, amounting to crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law. They have sought the death penalty if the accused are found guilty.
Prosecutors also asked the tribunal to confiscate the three defendants' assets if convicted and distribute them among the victims' families.
The defence, however, expressed hope for their acquittal. Hasina has denied all charges.
This will be the tribunal's first verdict on the atrocities committed during the uprising.
The court's delivery of the verdict is expected to be broadcast live on Bangladesh Television and private channels, subject to final approval by the tribunal.
Hasina is also facing three more cases at the ICT, two over enforced disappearances and one concerning the alleged mass killings at Motijheel's Shapla Chattar in 2013.
Kamal faces two enforced disappearance cases.
On July 2, ICT-1 sentenced Hasina to six months' simple imprisonment for contempt of court over remarks made during a phone conversation with a local leader about the tribunal.
The tribunal, for months, heard testimonies alleging she ordered mass killings.
After the uprising last year, a complaint alleging crimes against humanity against Hasina was filed with the ICT investigation agency. Investigators then opened a probe and, after completing it, submitted a report to the Chief Prosecutor's Office on May 12.
The prosecution submitted a 135-page charge sheet, accompanied by 8,747 pages of documents and evidence.
Formal charges against Hasina, Kamal, and Mamun were submitted to ICT-1 on June 1. The tribunal took cognisance of the case the same day and ordered the trial to begin.
On July 10, it framed charges against the accused.
Proceedings began on August 4 with the testimony from the first prosecution witness. Of the 81 witnesses listed, 54, including former IGP Mamun and the investigation officer, testified.
After the arguments closed on October 23, the tribunal fixed November 13 for setting the judgment date. On that day, the three-member bench, chaired by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, set November 17 for the verdict.
Centring the verdict, a four-layer security blanket has been deployed around the tribunal, comprising the army, Border Guard Bangladesh, Rapid Action Battalion, police, and the Armed Police Battalion.
Movement of all types of vehicles along the road stretching from the High Court gate to Doyel Chattar has been restricted.
THE CHARGES
Count-1 charged the defendants with murder, attempted murder, torture, and other inhumane acts. They were accused of abetting, inciting, facilitating, being complicit in, and failing to prevent crimes committed against civilians by law enforcement and armed cadres of the Awami League and its affiliates.
Count-2 charges include ordering the use of lethal weapons, helicopters, and drones to subdue student protesters, with the accused allegedly guilty of superior command responsibility, complicity, facilitation, and conspiracy.
Count-3 relates to the murder of Begum Rokeya University student Abu Sayed on July 16, where they issued orders, incited, abetted, facilitated, conspired and were complicit in the crime.
Count-4 accuses the defendants of orchestrating the murder of six unarmed protesters in the capital's Chankharpul on August 5 by direct order, incitement, abetment, facilitation, complicity, and conspiracy.
Count-5 concerns the shooting dead of five protesters and the injury of another. It also accuses the three of burning the five dead bodies and another protester alive, with the defendants allegedly involved through complicity, facilitation, and instigation.