Condemned ex-PM Hasina plans December return to Bangladesh

Despite facing a death sentence, exiled Sheikh Hasina pledges to return, setting up a legal clash with Dhaka’s leaders.Ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina says she plans to return to the country from exile in December, despite a death sentence passed during her two-year stay in India.The 78-year-old former leader told the Reuters news agency in an interview published on Friday that she plans to return to Bangladesh alongside senior officials from her Awami League to launch a challenge to the legal shuttering of the party.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Is Bangladesh killing reforms introduced after student-led protests?list 2 of 3Bangladesh seeks IMF aid: How badly has Iran war hit its economy?list 3 of 3Bangladesh’s top diplomat elected UN General Assembly leader in tight raceend of listHer return could jolt efforts to stabilise Bangladeshi politics following the 2024 revolt against her increasingly authoritarian rule, which saw her flee after a deadly crackdown failed to quell a student-led uprising.However, it may also help to improve ties with India, which have been strained by New Delhi’s decision to offer her refuge.“They may arrest me on my return, they may even kill me,” Hasina said during the telephone interview from the Indian capital, to which she fled two years ago. “Still, I have to go. If death comes, I want it to come on my own soil.”The former prime minister said that her return is a coordinated effort to challenge the legal actions taken against her party, the Awami League, which has been banned.Hasina has urged other exiled party members, including former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal who also faces a death sentence, to join her.“All together, we will all surrender in court,” she said, insisting that legal proceedings against her are “farcical”.Protesters shout slogans as they vandalise a mural of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with paint and mud, demanding her resignation, at the Teacher Student Center (TSC) area of the Dhaka" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="29162" data-entity-type="organization">University of Dhaka in Dhaka, Bangladesh [FILE: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters]However, the current authorities have made it clear that they are in no mood to offer quarter to the former leader.