DHAKA, Bangladesh, July 10 — Former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina says she intends to fly back to Bangladesh in December, vowing to return despite a death sentence handed down during her two-year exile in India.
The 78-year-old leader told Reuters in an interview published Friday that she plans to travel with senior figures from her banned Awami League to contest the legal measures taken against the party.
Hasina, who took refuge in India after a student-led uprising unseated her government in 2024, said she is ready to face detention—or worse—on arrival.
“They may arrest me on my return, they may even kill me. Still, I have to go. If death comes, I want it to come on my own soil,” she said in a telephone interview from New Delhi.
She urged other exiled Awami League leaders, including former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal—who also received a death sentence—to join her.
“All together, we will surrender in court,” Hasina said, dismissing the cases against her and the party as “farcical.”
Bangladesh’s interim authorities have indicated no change in approach toward the ousted premier, keeping in place the prosecutions and death sentences against her and several top allies.
Hasina served nearly 20 years over multiple terms as prime minister, a period marked by swift economic gains and a booming garment sector. Her tenure also drew sharp criticism from opponents and human rights groups, who accused her administration of authoritarian tactics and silencing dissent.
Her planned homecoming could strain Bangladesh’s delicate political balance and potentially shape ties with India, which has hosted her since she fled in 2024.
AXADLETM
