Sheikh Hasina plans December return to Bangladesh, vows to surrender

Former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, 78, announced that she will return from exile in India around December and voluntarily surrender to the courts. Hasina, who fled Bangladesh in August 2024 after a student‑led uprising forced her out of power, faces a death sentence handed down by the International Crimes Tribunal for ordering a deadly crackdown on the protests, and her Awami League party has been banned since May 2025.

In a nearly hour‑long telephone interview with Reuters, she said, “They may arrest me on my return, they may even kill me. Still, I have to go,” adding that she wants any death to occur on her own soil. She said she has not consulted any foreign government about the plan, although Bangladesh has repeatedly requested India to extradite her and India says it is reviewing the request. Hasina also mentioned that other senior Awami League figures, including former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who also faces a death sentence, intend to return and surrender.

The announced return could heighten political tensions within Bangladesh and affect strained Bangladesh‑India relations, while Hasina argues the move will expose what she calls a farcical judicial process and let the Bangladeshi people decide her legacy.