Sheikh Hasina Vows to Return to Bangladesh in December Despite Death Sentence

Bangladesh’s former prime minister Sheikh Hasina has said she will return to her country in December, even though a court in Dhaka has sentenced her to death. Speaking to The Associated Press by email, she said she was fully aware she could be arrested, imprisoned or even killed on arrival — and that she was coming home anyway.

“If death is my destiny, I would rather die on the soil of my own country, among my own people,” Hasina told the AP. “So, I will return to Bangladesh. That decision has not changed.”

It is the clearest statement yet from the ousted leader about her plans. She has lived in exile in India since August 2024, when weeks of student-led protests ended her 15 years in power. Since then, a Bangladeshi tribunal has sentenced her to death in her absence, her party has been banned from politics, and a new government has taken office after elections in February 2026. Her return — if it happens — would be one of the most dramatic moments in Bangladesh’s recent history.

What Hasina said

The AP sent its questions to Hasina last week, and she replied on Wednesday, 4 November. Her answers were short, defiant and personal.

She said she knew exactly what could be waiting for her at the airport.

“I know that I may be arrested when I return. I may be imprisoned, tortured or even killed. I am fully aware of those possibilities. But I cannot spend the rest of my life watching my people suffer from a distance,” she said.

Hasina also pushed back against any suggestion that she needed permission from another country to go home.

“I value friendship and cooperation with all nations. That has always been our foreign policy. But I do not need the blessing of a foreign power to return to my own country,” she said.

She did not say how she plans to travel from India to Bangladesh, or on which day in December she intends to arrive. No arrangements for a voluntary return have been announced. The press wing of the prime minister’s office in Dhaka did not respond to the AP’s request for comment.

The death sentence waiting for her

Hasina’s return would not be a normal homecoming. In November 2025, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal sentenced her to death in her absence, finding her responsible for crimes against humanity over the crackdown on protesters that preceded her fall from power.

The case relates to the protests of July and August 2024. What began as demonstrations against quotas in government jobs grew into a nationwide movement against her government. Security forces and groups linked to her party, the Awami League, responded with force. A United Nations human rights investigation estimated that as many as 1,400 people may have been killed during the unrest, and described serious violations by security forces and elements linked to the Awami League.

Hasina has denied any wrongdoing. She has rejected the tribunal’s verdict and questioned whether the trial was fair.

A death sentence passed in a person’s absence is unusual, but it is not symbolic. If Hasina sets foot in Bangladesh, the authorities would be expected to arrest her. That is the central risk she says she is willing to take.

How she fell from power

To understand why her return matters so much, it helps to look back at how she left.

Hasina was prime minister from 2009 to 2024 — 15 years in office, making her Bangladesh’s longest-serving leader. Her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was the country’s founding president. For much of her time in power, Bangladesh’s economy grew quickly, and millions of people moved out of extreme poverty. But critics accused her government of becoming increasingly authoritarian: jailing opponents, restricting the press and holding elections that the opposition said were not free or fair.

In the summer of 2024, students began protesting against a system that reserved a share of government jobs for the families of veterans of the 1971 Liberation War. The protests spread far beyond the campuses. Within weeks, they had become a broad movement demanding her resignation. The crackdown that followed killed hundreds of people and injured thousands more.

On 5 August 2024, Hasina resigned and fled to India by helicopter. Within days, an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took office. Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank, had been chosen by the protest leaders to guide the country towards new elections.

Two years in exile

Hasina has spent more than two years in India. The Bangladeshi government has repeatedly asked New Delhi to hand her over so she can face the courts. India has not done so. Indian officials have said the extradition request is being legally examined. In October, India’s high commissioner to Dhaka, Dinesh Trivedi, said nobody could give a timeframe for her return.

That leaves Hasina in a strange position. She is wanted at home, protected abroad, and unable to travel freely. Her announcement in August 2026 — that she intended to return in December — was her first clear signal that she planned to end the exile on her own terms.

December is a meaningful month in Bangladesh. It is the month the country marks its victory in the 1971 Liberation War, when Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan. Choosing December is widely read as a deliberate piece of symbolism: a return in the month of victory, by the daughter of the man who led the country to independence.

A very different Bangladesh

The country Hasina would return to is not the one she left.

In May 2025, the interim government banned all activities of the Awami League and its affiliated organisations. The party’s student wing had already been banned in October 2024. The Awami League was barred from contesting the parliamentary elections held on 12 February 2026.

Those elections were won by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which took 209 of the 300 directly elected seats. Its leader, Tarique Rahman, was sworn in as prime minister on 17 February 2026. Rahman, the son of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman and former prime minister Khaleda Zia, had himself returned from 17 years of self-imposed exile in London on 25 December 2025 — just days before his mother died on 30 December. The Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance, with 77 seats, became the main opposition.

The election was generally considered democratic, fair and transparent, according to the British government’s country assessment published in October 2026 — the first such election in Bangladesh in more than a decade. But the Awami League’s absence from the ballot left a large share of the electorate without a party to vote for, and the party still has supporters across the country.

The government has maintained that arrests of Awami League figures are linked to specific criminal charges, not to their politics. Hasina’s supporters say the ban on the party is itself political.

What could happen if she lands

Nobody knows exactly what would happen if Hasina arrives in Dhaka in December, because no former leader in her position has tried it before. But several scenarios are possible.

The most likely outcome, based on the death sentence and the outstanding cases against her, is that she would be arrested on arrival. From there, her lawyers would be expected to challenge the verdict and seek a retrial or an appeal. Her supporters would argue that a trial held in her absence was unfair; the government would argue that she chose to leave and refused to face the court.

A second possibility is that her return sparks protests — either by her supporters, who would see it as a moment of defiance, or by the families of those killed in 2024, who would see it as an insult. The government would face a difficult choice between allowing demonstrations and cracking down on them.

A third possibility is that her arrival becomes a bargaining moment. A government that has just won a democratic election might prefer a legal process to a confrontation. But there is no sign yet of any deal, and Hasina has shown no interest in asking for one.

What is clear is that her return would put Bangladesh’s new democracy to a test. The country has spent two years trying to move past the violence of 2024 — through an interim government, a reform process and an election. Hasina’s arrival would force the new government to show how it handles its most famous prisoner.

Why this matters beyond Bangladesh

The story matters well beyond Dhaka’s borders, for three reasons.

First, it affects India. New Delhi has sheltered Hasina for more than two years, and the decision has strained its relationship with Bangladesh. India says the extradition request is under legal review. If Hasina leaves India voluntarily, that particular problem goes away — but India will be watching closely to see how she is treated, because her fate will shape how the two neighbours deal with each other for years.

Second, it affects the region. Bangladesh is South Asia’s third-largest country by population, with around 170 million people. Its politics have a direct bearing on trade, migration and security across the region, including in Pakistan, where the interim government under Yunus had begun rebuilding ties — resuming direct trade links and restoring direct flights after 14 years. A stable Bangladesh matters to its neighbours; an unstable one worries them.

Third, it is a test of accountability. The 2024 uprising was driven by young people demanding an end to impunity — the idea that powerful people can act without consequences. The tribunal’s death sentence was the sharpest expression of that demand. How Bangladesh handles Hasina’s return will show whether the country can deliver justice through its courts, or whether the old cycle of revenge and counter-revenge continues.

What happens next

Several things are worth watching in the coming weeks.

The first is whether Hasina gives any more detail about her travel plans. So far, she has confirmed the month but not the date or the route. Any announcement of a specific date would sharpen the focus — and the security preparations — considerably.

The second is how the government in Dhaka responds. So far, the prime minister’s office has not commented on her statement. Whether it treats her return as a legal matter, a security matter or a political matter will shape everything that follows.

The third is India. New Delhi has not said whether it will help or hinder her departure. Its handling of the extradition request, and of her travel, will be watched closely in both capitals.

The fourth is the Awami League itself. The party is banned, its leaders are in jail, in exile or in hiding. Hasina’s return could revive it — or it could end with her arrest and a further crackdown.

For now, one thing is certain: a woman sentenced to death in her absence has told the world she is coming home anyway. December will show whether she means it — and what Bangladesh does when she arrives.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Sheikh Hasina?

Sheikh Hasina is the former prime minister of Bangladesh, in office from 2009 until August 2024. She is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s founding president. She led the Awami League for decades and was the country’s longest-serving prime minister.

Why was she sentenced to death?

In November 2025, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal sentenced her in her absence to death for crimes against humanity, holding her responsible for the crackdown on protesters in July and August 2024. A UN investigation estimated that as many as 1,400 people may have been killed in the unrest. Hasina denies wrongdoing and disputes the verdict.

Where has she been since 2024?

She has lived in exile in India since fleeing Dhaka on 5 August 2024, after student-led protests ended her government. Bangladesh has repeatedly asked India to extradite her, but India has not handed her over.

When does she plan to return?

She first announced in August 2026 that she intended to return in December. In her email interview with the Associated Press, published on 5 November 2026, she confirmed that the decision has not changed. She has not given an exact date or said how she will travel.

What would happen if she returns?

She would almost certainly be arrested, because of the death sentence and other cases against her. Her lawyers would be expected to challenge the verdict. Her return could also trigger protests by supporters and by families of those killed in 2024.

Who governs Bangladesh now?

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party won the parliamentary elections on 12 February 2026, taking 209 of 300 directly elected seats. Its leader, Tarique Rahman, became prime minister on 17 February 2026. The Awami League was barred from contesting, and its activities were banned in May 2025.

Sources

• The Associated Press, via The Plain Dealer: “Bangladesh’s ousted premier Hasina tells the AP she will return from exile in December at any cost” — https://www.plaindealerin.com/news/wire/bangladeshs-ousted-premier-hasina-tells-the-ap-she-will-return-from-exile-in-december-at/article_fbe43cb3-8c28-5a1d-81d7-0294636ff521.html
• Zee News: “‘Would rather die in my own country than watch my people suffer’: Hasina vows to return to Bangladesh in December” — https://english.zeenews.com/world/article-sheikh-hasina-bangladesh-return-december-2026-death-sentence-3161552
• Kashmir Independent Media Service: “Hasina vows to return to Bangladesh in December despite death sentence” — https://kimskashmir.com/hasina-vows-to-return-to-bangladesh-in-december-despite-death-sentence/
• UK Government, Country policy and information note: political situation, Bangladesh, October 2026 — https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bangladesh-country-policy-and-information-notes/country-policy-and-information-note-political-situation-bangladesh-october-2026-accessible
• RSIS (S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies): “Conditional Reset: India’s Calculus in Post-Election Bangladesh” — https://rsis.edu.sg/rsis-publication/rsis/conditional-reset-indias-calculus-in-post-election-bangladesh/

This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.