Overview
- Hasina told Reuters on Friday that she and senior Awami League colleagues plan to return from exile in India around December and voluntarily present themselves to Bangladeshi courts.
- Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal convicted Hasina in absentia and sentenced her to death for her role in the 2024 crackdown on protests, and at least one other senior exiled leader, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, also faces a death sentence.
- Hasina fled to India in August 2024 after mass protests ended her two-decade rule, and Dhaka has repeatedly requested her extradition while India said in April it was examining the request.
- Since Hasina's ouster, many Awami League activists have faced arrests, legal cases and attacks, and she says her planned surrender is meant to expose what she calls a flawed legal process and draw attention to repression of her party.
- A return could deepen domestic divisions and sway public opinion in Bangladesh, raise the risk of street unrest, and force India to balance legal and diplomatic pressure with the bilateral relationship.