Ousted PM Hasina Faces Prison on Return to Bangladesh, Minister Says

Ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will face imprisonment if she returns to Bangladesh from her self-imposed exile in India, according to a senior government official. This warning comes just days after Hasina told Reuters she intended to return in December and surrender to the authorities.

Hasina, who has been living in New Delhi since August 2024, faces a death sentence in Bangladesh. Her party was banned following a popular uprising against her long rule that year, which the United Nations reported resulted in 1,400 deaths. The country's war-crimes court handed down the death sentence in absentia in November.

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Sheikh Hasina is a convicted criminal. If she surrenders, action will be taken against her as per the laws of Bangladesh. She will have to go to jail and further proceedings will follow as per the provisions of the law.

"Sheikh Hasina is a convicted criminal. If she surrenders, action will be taken against her as per the laws of Bangladesh," stated Shama Obaed Islam, Bangladesh's state minister for foreign affairs. "She will have to go to jail and further proceedings will follow as per the provisions of the law." Hasina has consistently denied the charges leveled against her while in exile.

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Cases have been filed against almost all of our leaders and workers, and many of them are in hiding. So I said that this time I am returning home, and one day, all of you should come. All together, we will all surrender in court.

Bangladesh is currently governed by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's administration, which took office in February after elections. The government is focused on stabilizing the country after two years of political turmoil. New Delhi has confirmed it is examining Bangladesh's request for Hasina's extradition.

In her first interview during exile, Hasina expressed her intention to return voluntarily, adding that many of her party colleagues living abroad would also return to face trial. "Cases have been filed against almost all of our leaders and workers, and many of them are in hiding," Hasina said. "So I said that this time I am returning home, and one day, all of you should come. All together, we will all surrender in court." Obaed dismissed Hasina's statement as "an attempt to mobilize fugitive party leaders and activists."

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an attempt to mobilise fugitive party leaders and activists.