Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Wednesday that she will return to Bangladesh after two years of living in exile in India. She faces a death sentence from a court in Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital, that was issued in absentia — meaning she was convicted without being present in the country. Speaking through a video call at an event hosted by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of South Asia, the 78-year-old said the exact date of her return will be announced "when time comes," but that she wants it to be in December 2026 (Al Jazeera).

Hasina appeared alongside her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and other leaders of her political party, the Awami League, including former Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel. The announcement builds on something she already said in July, when she told Reuters she planned to return to Bangladesh around December 2026 with senior party leaders to voluntarily turn herself in to a court (Reuters). At that time, she also said she had not been in contact with the government in Dhaka about her planned return.

The situation Hasina would return to is serious. She was sentenced to death in absentia for ordering a violent crackdown on protesters (Reuters). That sentence was confirmed in a Reuters report on July 15 (Reuters). The crackdown she is accused of ordering is the same series of events that led to her removal from power in 2024.

Her political party, the Awami League, has been banned in Bangladesh (Reuters). This means any organized political activity she and her allies try to do after returning would happen in a country that has already outlawed their party. Since she plans to return with senior party colleagues, it is unclear how the government in Dhaka would handle the arrival of a group connected to a banned organization, even if their stated goal is to surrender to the courts.

Hasina's stated plan is to voluntarily turn herself in to a court. This is different from a negotiated return, where governments agree on the terms of a handover, or a political deal. By choosing to surrender, she would put herself under the authority of the Bangladeshi court system, which has already convicted her. Whether the court would reconsider the sentence, order a new trial, or carry out the punishment is an open question that the available reporting does not answer.

Her choice to announce this from exile, through a video call to international journalists, is a deliberate decision. The platform gave her global attention while letting her control the message without stepping into Bangladesh. The presence of her son and senior party leaders alongside her indicated this was a decision made by the party as a whole, not just a personal statement.

The broader context here is a country still dealing with the aftermath of the 2024 uprising that removed Hasina from power. The temporary government in Dhaka has banned her party and allowed the court process to reach a death sentence. Hasina's stated plan to return in December creates a timeline that both sides will now have to deal with, though she has kept her options open by not setting an exact date.