Ousted Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina Vows to Return Home Despite Death Sentence

DHAKA, Bangladesh: Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, ousted in a mass uprising in 2024, has told The Associated Press that she remains committed to returning to Bangladesh from exile in India next month, despite being sentenced to death over her government’s deadly crackdown on protesters. Hasina fled to India after student-led protests forced her from power and has remained there ever since. In 2025, a Bangladeshi special tribunal sentenced her to death for crimes against humanity, ruling that she was responsible for ordering the crackdown, which left hundreds of people dead and thousands of others injured. The United Nations has said in a report that nearly 1,400 people were killed. Hasina denies any wrongdoing. She also has rejected the tribunal's verdict and challenged the legitimacy of the trial. Bangladesh has repeatedly sought Hasina’s extradition, but India has declined to hand her over. She had first announced in August her intention to return in December. “If death is my destiny, I would rather die on the soil of my own country, among my own people,” she told The Associated Press in response to questions by email. “So, I will return to Bangladesh. That decision has not changed.” Questions were submitted to her last week and she responded on Wednesday. Hasina, who was prime minister from 2009-2024, didn't disclose how she plans to return from India. She could face arrest upon arrival in Bangladesh.