In an email interview with NDTV last month, Hasina declared that she intends to return despite the challenges she faces. "Overcoming every obstacle and every conspiracy, I will return to my country this year," she said.
Sheikh Hasina's government was removed from power on August 5, 2024, following large-scale student-led protests that brought an end to her 20-year tenure as Prime Minister. After her government collapsed, Hasina left Bangladesh and has been living in India.
As the 78-year-old leader prepares to return despite what she described as having "no fear of death," the interim administration has made it clear that legal proceedings will begin immediately upon her return.
"If she surrenders, steps will be taken in accordance with the existing law. She will have to go to jail. The law will take its own course," State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam told reporters.
The minister further stated that the legal process would remain the same regardless of where Hasina surrendered. "Wherever Sheikh Hasina surrenders, whether in India or Bangladesh, she will have to go to jail first. The government has nothing to consider regarding the statements of a convicted individual," she said.
Shama Obaed Islam also alleged that Hasina's recent statements were intended to encourage Awami League leaders and supporters who have either gone into hiding or fled the country following the political upheaval.
"Instead of surrendering, her remarks from abroad appear to be an attempt to encourage Awami League leaders and activists who have either gone into hiding or fled the country. I see no other reason," she said.
The warning comes after Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Sheikh Hasina to death on November 17 last year in a case involving alleged crimes against humanity. The tribunal found her guilty on three counts, including ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising.
According to the tribunal, Sheikh Hasina instructed law enforcement agencies to deploy drones to identify groups of protesters and use helicopters and lethal weapons during the operation against demonstrators.
Hasina and her former Home Minister, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, were declared fugitives and were tried in absentia.
Rejecting the tribunal's decision, Hasina described the verdict as part of an "illegal, unconstitutional, and politically motivated process." She also claimed that the judiciary had been turned into an instrument of political revenge aimed at eliminating the leadership of the Awami League and described the ban on the party as illegal.
In a separate telephone interview with Reuters, Hasina acknowledged the possibility of arrest or even death upon her return to Bangladesh.
"They may arrest me on my return, they may even kill me. Still, I have to go," she said.
Expressing her emotional attachment to her homeland, Hasina said she wished to spend her final moments in Bangladesh, where her parents are buried.
"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 said.
The developments mark another significant chapter in Bangladesh's ongoing political crisis, with Sheikh Hasina reaffirming her determination to return despite the certainty of legal action, while the interim administration maintains that the judicial process will proceed strictly under existing law.
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