Bangladesh’s fugitive former leader, Sheikh Hasina, has vowed to return to her country “this year”, according to an interview published months after she was sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity.
Hasina, 78, fled to neighbouring India in August 2024 after a popular student-led uprising ended her 15-year, iron-fisted rule.
She has not been seen in public since, except for a rare speech broadcast to a packed press club in New Delhi in January.
In an interview with Indian broadcaster NDTV on Sunday, Hasina said she was not afraid of death and that the verdict against her was “part of an illegal, unconstitutional and politically motivated process”.
“Many conspiracies have been hatched against me. But breaking through every web of conspiracy. I was elected prime minister five times by the people’s vote and worked for the country’s unprecedented development,” Hasina said.
