Continued from P1

“They may arrest me on my return, they may even kill me,” Sheikh Hasina told the news agency. “Still, I have to go.” Expressing deep concern over the ongoing situation of her political supporters back home, the former Prime Minister emphasised her resolve to face the consequences on her home soil.

“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,” she added. The high-stakes announcement follows a ruling by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal, which sentenced her to death after convicting her of crimes against humanity.

The charges were tied to the state crackdown on the 2024 student-led demonstrations that ultimately led to the fall of the Awami League government, with the tribunal holding her accountable for ordering or failing to stop the fatalities of demonstrators during the political unrest.

In the same verdict, the tribunal handed a death sentence to former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and a five-year prison sentence to former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun. The judicial body additionally directed the state to confiscate the properties of both Sheikh Hasina and Kamal.