Overview
- In her first media interviews since being toppled, the 78-year-old says millions of Awami League supporters will refuse to vote if the party remains excluded.
- The Election Commission suspended the Awami League’s registration in May after the Yunus-led interim government outlawed its activities under amended anti-terror laws.
- National elections are slated for February 2026, with the BNP seen as the frontrunner and Jamaat-e-Islami gaining ground in the party’s absence.
- Hasina is on trial in absentia for crimes against humanity over the 2024 protest crackdown that a UN report says killed up to 1,400 people, with a verdict due November 13.
- She rejects the charges as politically motivated, prosecutors seek the death penalty citing alleged command responsibility and police-verified audio, and Human Rights Watch has called the ban on her party “draconian”.