Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said that she is determined to return home in December to put the country on the “right track”, PTI reported.

During an audio-only virtual press conference held at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Delhi, Hasina said that she would return to Bangladesh to restore democracy despite the risk of imprisonment or even a death sentence.

This was Hasina’s first public media interaction after fleeing to Delhi in August 2024 amid widespread protests against her government.

Hasina also demanded that the ban on her party, the Awami League, be lifted and political prisoners be released. She urged the international community to support the people of Bangladesh in their struggle for democracy and justice.

Late on Wednesday night, Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said that it was “outraged that the absconding convicted genocider Sheikh Hasina” was allowed to engage in live interaction with the media.

“Dhaka deeply regrets that in spite of concerns conveyed apriori to the Government of India about the likely ramifications of this event on the reset of our bilateral relations, this public event was permitted to be held,” the ministry said in a statement issued on Wednesday night.

The Indian foreign ministry has said that Hasina’s press conference was organised by a private media entity and the government has no involvement in it.

Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal in November sentenced Hasina to death for crimes against humanity in connection with the deadly crackdown on the protesters in 2024. In February, a court sentenced her to 10 years imprisonment in two corruption cases relating to alleged irregularities in the allocations of land in a government housing project in Dhaka.

Dhaka has repeatedly demanded that Hasina be extradited. It has also expressed concerns about the ousted leader being allowed by Indian authorities to address her supporters from Delhi.

In May 2025, the interim government in Bangladesh at the time banned all activities of the Awami League, including its online platforms, under the country’s anti-terrorism act.

In October, Hasina described the ban as unjust and said that it could undermine the legitimacy of the elections, which were held in February. The Tarique Rahman-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party, a rival of the Awami League, came to power in the polls.

Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.

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