Ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said she plans to return to Bangladesh from exile in India later this year to surrender to authorities and face legal proceedings, despite being sentenced to death in absentia.
In an interview with Reuters, the 78-year-old former leader said she and senior members of her banned Awami League party intend to return around December and present themselves before the courts.
“They may arrest me on my return, they may even kill me,” Hasina said. “Still, I have to go.”
She added: “My party leaders and workers are being subjected to tremendous repression. If death comes, I want it to come on my own soil, where my parents are buried and where their blood was shed.”
Hasina fled to India in 2024 after mass protests ended her two-decade rule. In November, Bangladesh’s war crimes tribunal sentenced her to death in absentia over the deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising, charges she has repeatedly denied.
Analysts say her return could further deepen political tensions in Bangladesh, while also influencing relations with India, which have remained strained since New Delhi granted her refuge.