'Sheikh Hasina will be arrested before she can surrender': Bangladesh minister on deposed PM's return

Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to death, in absentia, for her role in the violent crackdown on the 2024 student-led protests.

Deposed Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina is likely to be arrested instantly on her return from India, before getting opportunities to surrender directly to a court, Bangladesh Law Minister M Asaduzzaman said on Thursday.

Sheikh Hasina, deposed PM of Bangladesh, is in hiding in India. (REUTERS)

The comments came a day after Hasina told a news agency that she was determined to return to her country by December despite fearing for her life. "I may be killed. I may be arrested. I may be sent to prison … I am fully aware of my fate. Still, I want to go back because my people are calling me," she was quoted as saying.

Earlier this month, there were more interviews of her that suggested she was discussing with her party colleagues her possible return to Bangladesh by the end of this year.

'Law will take its own course'

Asaduzzaman said 78-year-old Hasina has the right to return but the "law will take its own course and we will do nothing violating the law".

"Despite being a death penalty convict, being a Bangladeshi citizen, if she intends to surrender showing respect to the law by returning home, perhaps she will be arrested before she could do so," the minister told reporters. "We will exercise the authority that the law has given us".

Asked how she could return after her passport was revoked by the interim government that succeeded her, minister Asaduzzaman said: 'It is her problem, not mine".

"(But) whenever she will enter into our territory, I will enforce the authority that the law has reposed upon me,' he said.

Hasina's ouster and conviction

Hasina's government was toppled in August 2024 after violent student-led street protests in Bangladesh, following which Hasina fled to India.

As an interim government took charge, a special court disbanded Hasina's political party, Awami League, under an executive order under an anti-terror law.

In November 2025, Hasina was sentenced to death, in absentia, after being convicted of crimes against humanity by the International Crimes Tribunal for her role in the violent crackdown on the 2024 student-led protests.

International human rights watchdogs like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called the proceedings "flawed", while the UN human rights office has questioned its fairness.

Extradition request under consideration

Earlier this year, elections were held in Bangladesh, following which the Bangladesh Nationalist Party came to power and Tarique Rahman took charge as the new prime minister.

Bangladesh has been seeking Hasina's extradition for a while.

New Delhi has acknowledged the extradition request and maintains that it is under legal consideration.