Bangladesh prosecutor says Hasina will be executed if she returns as protests turn violent
Police fired tear gas at pro-Hasina protesters as Dhaka said the exiled former leader had lost her right to appeal her death sentence.
Bangladesh's chief prosecutor said on Tuesday that former prime minister Sheikh Hasina will be executed if she returns from exile in India. On the same day, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at her supporters, who were protesting to demand her return, the BBC reported.
"Sheikh Hasina has no option but to face the execution of the verdict," Md Aminul Islam told reporters, according to The Hindu and The Straits Times. He said the 79-year-old had missed the deadline to appeal and had no legal options left. The Straits Times quoted him as saying the statute requires an appeal to be filed within 30 days of judgment.
A court in Dhaka sentenced Hasina to death in absentia in November 2025. It found her guilty on three counts of crimes against humanity over the 2024 crackdown on a student-led uprising, which the United Nations says left up to 1,400 people dead. Hasina has called the trial a "jurisprudential joke" and, the BBC reported, "biased and politically motivated". She has told AFP she is "fully aware" she could be hanged, but says she will return in December.
The BBC reported that the banned student wing of her Awami League, the Bangladesh Chhatra League, clashed with security forces in Gopalganj district, where a police vehicle was set alight. A 60-year-old bus driver died of smoke inhalation after his bus was set on fire in Faridpur early on Tuesday. About 200 protesters briefly blocked the Padma bridge linking Dhaka with the south-west. A senior BCL leader in exile told the BBC that "unknown miscreants" carried out the violence.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said any attempt to create instability "from across the border" would not succeed. Separately, CNA and The Hindu reported that police had arrested 12 people they allege are Awami League members over petrol bomb attacks this month on property, an empty bus and police vehicles. Those attacks caused no casualties.
The government's position on Hasina's passport differs between the reports. CNA reported that on Monday Ahmed said her renewal application, which British law firm Matrix Chambers sent to Bangladesh's high commission in New Delhi, was under review. The BBC reported that the government said it would not issue her a passport. Islam told reporters the passport authority "may refuse" one to anyone convicted of serious crimes.
Junior foreign minister Humaiun Kobir called her "a fugitive criminal" and told the BBC, "We want her handed over." Dhaka has sought her extradition under its treaty with India. New Delhi says the request is under legal review.
Sources: The Hindu, Bangladesh prosecutor says ex-PM Hasina will be executed if she returns; The Straits Times, Bangladesh prosecutor says ex-PM Hasina will be executed if she returns; CNA, Bangladesh challenges ousted PM Hasina over return pledge; BBC News, Violence erupts in Bangladesh as ousted PM's supporters stage protest.
