Published on 6/29/2026
Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pledged to return to her country “this year,” according to an interview broadcast on Sunday, months after a death sentence was issued against her in absentia on charges related to crimes against humanity.
Hasina (78 years old) fled to India in August 2024 following a student uprising that ended her 15-year rule.
Since then, she has only appeared in public once, during a rare meeting with journalists in New Delhi last January.
She said in an interview with the Indian channel “NDT” that she does not fear death, and described the sentence issued against her as “part of an illegal, unconstitutional and politically motivated process.”
She added that she was the target of “many conspiracies” hatched against her, stressing that she was elected prime minister five times by the will of the people, and that she led unprecedented development in the country.
In response to a question about the possibility of her return despite the death sentence, she said, “I will return to my country this year, despite all the obstacles and conspiracies.”
A court in Dhaka convicted Hasina last November on charges of incitement, issuing orders to kill, and failing to prevent violations, and sentenced her to death by hanging.
The authorities also banned the activities of her former party, the Awami League, one of the most prominent parties in the country. The developments come in light of ongoing political tension and repeated demands to extradite Hasina from India to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh had expressed its shock at India’s move, which allowed the fugitive Prime Minister to deliver a public speech in New Delhi, considering that allowing this event to be held in the Indian capital and allowing “the perpetrator of the massacres, Hasina, to deliver her hateful speech publicly (…) constitute a real insult to the people of Bangladesh and its government.”
