Bangladesh says all legal formalities complete for Sheikh Hasina’s return, awaits India’s decision

Bangladesh has completed the legal procedures required to secure the return of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from India, and the final decision on extradition rests with New Delhi, Dhaka Tribune quoted the Law Minister Mohammad Asaduzzaman as saying on Saturday.

“We have completed everything required from our side as part of the legal process,” Prothom Alo quoted him as saying. “What they [India] will do is up to them.”

Hasina was sentenced to death by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal in November 2025 for crimes against humanity in connection with a deadly crackdown on protesters in 2024. She fled led to India in August 2024 after having been in power for 16 years. Her ouster came after several weeks of widespread student-led protests against her Awami League government.

The law minister said that Hasina would not be allowed to appeal against her death sentence under legal provisions.

Referring to the country’s 1973 International Crimes Tribunals Act, the minister said that as per Article 479(3), a person accused or convicted of crimes against humanity cannot claim fundamental rights.

When asked if Bangladesh had held discussions with New Delhi about sending Hasina to a third country, he said, “[The Indian government] will be able to answer that,” Prothom Alo reported.

Asaduzzaman’s comments came days after the Bangladesh’s Chief Prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal, Muhammad Aminul Islam, said that Hasina had no legal option but to face execution of the sentence if she returned to the country.

Islam made the remarks a day after it was reported that Hasina had applied for a new passport and national identity card to facilitate her return to Bangladesh.

The prosecutor’s remarks came amid a wave of arson attacks and crude bomb explosions fuelled by tensions over Hasina’s stated intention to return to the country in December.

Following the November 2025 death sentence, a court in February handed her 10 years’ imprisonment in two corruption cases relating to alleged irregularities in the allocation 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 the Indian authorities to address her supporters from Delhi.

The Indian government has said that it was for Hasina to decide whether she wants to return to Bangladesh.

Edited by Sara Varghese.