Bangladesh’s fugitive ex-PM says will return to Dhaka ‘this year’

NEW DELHI: Bangladesh’s fugitive former leader Sheikh Hasina has vowed to return to her country “this year”, according to an interview published on Sunday, months after she was sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity.

Hasina, 78, fled to neighbouring India in August 2024 after a student-led uprising ended her 15-year, iron-fisted rule.

She has not been seen in public since, except for a rare speech broadcast to a packed press club in New Delhi in January.

In an interview with Indian broadcaster NDTV, Hasina said she was not afraid of death and that the verdict against her was “part of an illegal, unconstitutional and politically motivated process”.

“Many conspiracies have been hatched against me. But breaking through every web of conspiracy… I was elected prime minister five times by the people’s vote and worked for the country’s unprecedented development,” Hasina said.

“I want to say clearly: overcoming every obstacle and every conspiracy, I will return to my country this year,” she added in response to a question on whether she would return despite the death penalty verdict.

Last November, Hasina was found guilty by a Dhaka court of incitement, ordering to kill and inaction to prevent atrocities and sentenced to be hanged.

The activities of her former ruling Awami League, once one of the country’s most popular, have been outlawed.

Ties between India and Bangladesh have improved since prime minister Tarique Rahman won a landslide election victory in the South Asian nation of 170 million people in February.

But frictions remain, with Bangladesh repeatedly demanding the extradition of Hasina.