Sheikh Hasina says she plans to return to Bangladesh in December, reports ‘Reuters’

Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told Reuters on Friday that she and senior members of her party plan to return to the country from India around December.

Hasina, who fled to Delhi in August 2024 amid widespread protests against her government, told Reuters in a telephone interview that she and senior leaders of her Awami League will surrender to a court.

“They may arrest me on my return, they may even kill me,” Hasina was quoted as saying. “Still, I have to go.”

She added: “If death comes, I want it to come on my own soil, where my parents are buried and where their blood was shed.”

The 78-year-old alleged that Awami League leaders were being “subjected to tremendous repression” in Bangladesh, the news agency reported.

Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal in November sentenced Hasina to death for crimes against humanity in connection with the deadly crackdown on the protesters in 2024. In February, a court sentenced her to 10 years imprisonment in two corruption cases relating to alleged irregularities in the allocations of land in a government housing project in Dhaka.

Dhaka has repeatedly demanded that Hasina be extradited. It has also expressed concerns about the ousted leader being allowed by Indian authorities to address her supporters from Delhi.

In December, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that it was for Hasina to...

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