Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina says she still plans to return to Bangladesh from India in December, a move that could bring her back to face arrest after a death sentence.
In email answers to questions from The Associated Press, Hasina wrote, “That decision has not changed.” She said she understood she could be arrested, imprisoned, tortured or killed if she returned, but did not say how she would travel.
The December target is a reaffirmation: Hasina had spoken about the same plan at an Oct. 19 event in Washington, according to EconoTimes’ earlier coverage. She has lived in India since leaving Bangladesh after the 2024 uprising forced her from office.
Bangladesh State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir told United News of Bangladesh that Dhaka wants India to transfer Hasina under the countries’ extradition treaty. Kobir said Bangladesh would not need to issue her a passport for a handover or arrest.
India has not transferred Hasina.
A Bangladeshi tribunal sentenced Hasina to death in absentia in 2025 for crimes against humanity tied to the government’s 2024 crackdown on student-led protests. The tribunal ruled that she ordered the response to protesters. Hasina denies wrongdoing and has challenged the trial’s legitimacy.
The U.N. Human Rights Office linked the 2024 protests to public-service job quotas and broader grievances over governance and inequality. It estimated that as many as 1,400 people may have been killed between July 1 and Aug. 15, 2024.
The Associated Press reported that Hasina’s Awami League party was barred from February’s election, which brought longtime rival Tarique Rahman to power after an 18-month interim administration led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. Hasina gave no arrival date.
