Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister and Awami League chief, Sheikh Hasina has announced that she and other exiled Awami League leaders plan to return to the country voluntarily around December this year. Despite the serious risk of arrest or even death upon arrival, former Bangladesh Prime Minister said
In interview with Reuters, the 78-year-old leader, who fled to India after a student-led uprising forced her from power in August 2024, said she intends to surrender to the judicial courts once she returns.
She added that she has had no communication with the current authorities in Dhaka regarding her planned homecoming.“They may arrest me on my return, they may even kill me,” Sheikh Hasina told the news agency. “Still, I have to go.”
Former Prime Minister expressed concerns over political support given to her at home, she resolved to face consequences upon her return.
“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,” she added.
The announcement comes after Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Sheikh Hasina to death in absentia, convicting her of crimes against humanity.The charges stem from the government’s violent crackdown on the 2024 student-led protests, which ultimately toppled her Awami League administration.
The tribunal held her responsible for ordering the repression or failing to prevent the killing of demonstrators during the unrest.
In the same ruling, the tribunal also sentenced former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death and handed a five-year prison term to former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun.The court further ordered the confiscation of properties belonging to both Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.
Saperately, Dhaka court sentenced Hasina to five years in prison over irregularities in the allocation of plots under the Purbachal New Town project.
Additionally, Hasina’s sister, Sheikh Rehana, was handed a seven-year sentence, while her niece, UK MP Tulip Siddiq, received two years’ imprisonment.
(with ANI inputs)
