Bangladesh’s ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina has told The Associated Press she remains committed to returning to Bangladesh from exile in December, “at any cost”, even though a Bangladeshi tribunal sentenced her to death over her government’s deadly crackdown on protesters. The planned Sheikh Hasina return to Bangladesh in December would put her back in a country whose courts have condemned her to death.
Hasina, who was forced from power by a mass uprising in 2024 and has lived in exile in India ever since, answered the AP’s questions by email on Wednesday. She said her decision to return next month has not changed, and she did not say how she plans to get back.
“If death is my destiny, I would rather die on the soil of my own country, among my own people,” she told the AP. “So, I will return to Bangladesh. That decision has not changed.”
The statement is her firmest public commitment yet to a return she first announced in August. It also raises the stakes sharply: she could face arrest the moment she sets foot in Bangladesh, and the death sentence handed down against her last year remains in force.
“I may be arrested… or even killed”
Hasina made clear she understands the risk. “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.
She has denied any wrongdoing, rejected the tribunal’s verdict and challenged the legitimacy of the trial that convicted her.
In 2025, a special tribunal in Dhaka sentenced Hasina to death for crimes against humanity, ruling that she was responsible for ordering the crackdown on the protests that ended her rule. Hundreds of people were killed and thousands injured in the unrest. A United Nations report put the death toll at nearly 1,400.
Hasina was prime minister from 2009 until 2024, when weeks of student-led protests escalated into a mass uprising that forced her to flee the country. She has remained in India since then.
Extradition requests refused
Bangladesh has repeatedly asked India to hand Hasina over, but India has declined to extradite her. That refusal is one reason her return, if it happens, would be so consequential: she would be arriving in a country whose courts have condemned her to death, without the protection of the government that has sheltered her for more than two years.
She did not disclose in her answers to the AP how she intends to travel to Bangladesh, or whether she has received any assurance about her safety. Those details, if they exist, have not been made public.
The timing also matters. December is only weeks away, and Bangladesh’s interim authorities have given no public indication of how they would handle her arrival. Her party, the Awami League, has been pushed out of formal politics since her fall, but it retains a large base of supporters, and her return could become a rallying point — or a flashpoint.
Why this matters
Hasina’s vow is more than a personal statement. It tests three things at once: whether Bangladesh’s interim government can enforce a death sentence against a former prime minister who still commands significant support; whether India will continue to shelter her or quietly allow her to leave; and whether the country’s fragile post-uprising politics can absorb her return without new unrest.
For the millions of Bangladeshis who lived through the 2024 uprising, the question is stark. Supporters of the uprising see the tribunal’s verdict as accountability for a crackdown that killed nearly 1,400 people, according to the United Nations. Hasina’s supporters see a trial they consider politically driven, and a leader they believe was forced out unlawfully.
Her own words frame the return as a matter of duty rather than strategy. “I cannot spend the rest of my life watching my people suffer from a distance,” she told the AP. Whether that resolve survives contact with Bangladeshi law enforcement is the question December will answer.
What is still unknown
Several key facts remain unclear. Hasina has not said how she plans to enter Bangladesh, whether by air, land or some other route, or whether she has coordinated with anyone in Dhaka. It is not known whether India would permit her departure, or whether Bangladeshi authorities would arrest her on arrival, detain her pending appeal, or take some other course.
It is also unclear whether the death sentence is final or still subject to appeal, and whether any legal process could delay its enforcement. The AP report does not resolve those questions, and no official in Dhaka or New Delhi has publicly responded to her statement at the time of writing.
What is confirmed is the commitment itself: Hasina says she will return in December, at any cost, and that the decision has not changed since she first announced it in August.
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FAQ
When does Sheikh Hasina say she will return to Bangladesh?
She told The Associated Press she will return in December 2026, saying “that decision has not changed” since she first announced the plan in August.
Why was Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death?
In 2025, a special tribunal in Dhaka sentenced her to death for crimes against humanity, ruling she was responsible for ordering the crackdown on the 2024 protests. She denies wrongdoing and rejects the verdict.
How many people were killed in the 2024 crackdown?
Hundreds were killed and thousands injured, according to the tribunal’s findings; a United Nations report said nearly 1,400 people were killed.
Where is Sheikh Hasina now?
She has lived in exile in India since fleeing Bangladesh during the mass uprising in August 2024. Bangladesh has repeatedly sought her extradition, but India has declined to hand her over.
What happens if she returns?
She could face arrest on arrival. Hasina herself said she may be “arrested… imprisoned, tortured or even killed”, but has not disclosed how she plans to travel or whether she has any assurance of safety.
Sources
- Associated Press via The Economic Times — “Bangladesh’s ousted premier Hasina tells the AP she will return from exile in December at any cost“
- Associated Press via The Week — “Bangladesh’s ousted premier Hasina tells the AP she will return from exile in December at any cost“
- The New Indian Express — “Bangladesh’s ousted premier Hasina says she will return from exile in December at any cost“
- The Telegraph India — “Sheikh Hasina says she will return to Bangladesh ‘at any cost’ despite death sentence“
- Arab Times — “Bangladesh’s ousted PM Hasina tells AP she will return from exile in December at any cost“
