Exiled Bangladesh PM vows to return despite facing death sentence

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has made her first public appearance since she escaped to India two years ago. She fled via helicopter at the height of the student uprising that toppled her government and has remained in exile since. What's next? During her address, she said she would return to her country in December where she has been convicted of crimes against humanity. Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has vowed to return to her country despite being sentenced to death for crimes against humanity over a deadly crackdown against student protesters. The 78-year-old fled to India in August 2024 by helicopter at the height of the student-led uprising that toppled her government. She has remained there since despite Bangladesh authorities seeking her extradition. On Wednesday evening, she delivered an audio message to mark the second anniversary of the uprising that ousted her. She was due to make the address via videolink at an event hosted by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of South Asia in New Delhi alongside her son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and other speakers. It would have been her first public appearance since she was forced to resign — but instead only an audio message was played. In it, she said that the ban on her Awami League party should be lifted. "I will return to my people," she said. "They may try to implicate me with fabricated cases, but fear cannot decide my duty to the people, my life or beyond." She said she would share the exact date of her return and other details when the time was right. It was not immediately clear why she did not appear on video, unlike her party colleagues and her son, who spoke before her. Bangladesh had warned the country's media not to publicise Hasina's statements, saying that doing so would violate a 2024 court order that prohibited the publishing or broadcasting of her speeches and statements. India-Bangladesh relations strained since Hasina's ousting The anti-government protests forced Hasina to resign after 20 years in power. She was sentenced to death in 2025 for crimes against humanity over her crackdown on the demonstrations. It was a verdict she dismissed as legally void. Hasina's aide Abu Obaidha Arin said Dhaka's "efforts to silence dissent cannot extinguish voices" beyond the country's borders. Bangladesh's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam said Bangladesh had repeatedly conveyed its concerns to India over Hasina and other Awami League leaders making political statements from Indian soil. Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the event was being organised by a private media entity and the Indian government had "no involvement whatsoever in it". "Neither does it endorse any views that may be expressed at the forum," he said. Relations between the neighbours have been strained since Hasina's ousting, though both sides have recently signalled a willingness to improve ties under Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's government, which took office after February's election.