'Ousted' and former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was sentenced to death back home by a tribunal in 2025, has said that she and senior leaders of her now-outlawed Awami League plan to return from exile around December and surrender before the courts.
Sheikh Hasina also added that she faced a risk to her life but would nevertheless return to her home country.
Hasina has been living in India since August 5, 2024, when she had to leave Bangladesh after weeks of anti-government protests, backed by Islamist elements.
The protests turned deadly, and she was advised by the army chief to leave Bangladesh for her own safety.
She was sentenced to death in absentia by Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal in November 2025 over her alleged role in the crackdown on the 2024 student-led protests. She has denied the charges.
In an interview with news agency Reuters, Hasina said she was prepared to be arrested or even killed but wanted to return to her homeland.
Bangladesh has from time to time - under both the interim regime and under BNP regime - repeatedly urged India to extradite her.
She was sentenced to death in absentia by Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal in November 2025 over her alleged role in the crackdown on the 2024 student-led protests.
She has denied the charges.
"Still, I have to go," she said.
"My party leaders and workers are being subjected to tremendous repression.
If death comes, I want it to come on my own soil, where my parents are buried and where their blood was shed".
Hasina fled Bangladesh in August 2024 after protests ended her 20 years as prime minister across multiple terms.
The country's war-crimes court sentenced her in November to death for ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising.
A return could sharpen political divisions in the garment-export powerhouse as the government in Dhaka seeks to restore stability after two years of upheaval.
On the other hand, it could improve strained ties with India, which deteriorated sharply after New Delhi gave her refuge.
And the statement to Reuters is the first time Hasina has publicly set out a timeline for her return or said that other senior Awami League leaders would also "surrender".
Among those expected to return is former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who also faces a death sentence, reported Reuters.
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