For the first time since fleeing Bangladesh two years ago, Sheikh Hasina has put a specific month on her planned return: December.
In July, nearly a month before the second anniversary of the fall of her government, the 78-year-old former prime minister said she intended to return to Bangladesh in December along with senior Awami League leaders and surrender to the courts.
On August 5, the second anniversary of the collapse of her government, Hasina repeated that pledge despite the enormous legal and political risks involved.
She has already been sentenced to death in absentia over crimes against humanity linked to her administration’s crackdown on the July 2024 uprising, in which up to 1,400 people were killed, according to UN estimates. Hasina has rejected the charges and has described the proceedings against her as “politically motivated.”
The question now is not simply whether she will follow through on her return plan. It is what she hopes to achieve by announcing it and what awaits her if she goes back.
