In her third exclusive interview since leaving Dhaka 14 months ago on Wednesday, Awami League President and five-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina delivered a blistering broadside against the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, warning that the February 2026 elections without her party will \u201csow the seeds of permanent division\u201d in Bangladesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking from undisclosed exile in India, the 78-year-old ousted leader \u2014 whose 15-year rule ended in a student-led jihadist-army coup on August 5, 2024 \u2014 also branded her ongoing crimes against humanity trial a \u201cjurisprudential joke\u201d with a \u201cpreordained guilty verdict\u201d due November 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
July Conspiracy: Role of global influence in Bangladesh regime change<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n New Restrictions: The US-backed Yunus regime and the St. Martin\u2019s Island conspiracy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Exclusive: US troops in Bangladesh ready to invade Myanmar<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sheikh Hasina accused Nobel laureate Yunus of weaponising democracy by banning the Awami League in May 2025 under controversial amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act \u2014 a move Human Rights Watch called \u201cdraconian.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cElections without the direct participation of all major parties, including the Awami League, cannot be credible,\u201d she told AFP <\/a>in written responses. \u201cYunus must reinstate the party to give Bangladeshis the choice they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She warned that excluding the largest political force, which dominated Bangladesh for over two decades, would fuel unrest, deepen polarisation, and hand power to extremists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interview With Reuters: Sheikh Hasina champions fair, inclusive elections<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Interview With The Independent: Sheikh Hasina stands tall, debunks propaganda<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n ICRF: OHCHR narrative is super biased, it blames Awami League for everything<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou cannot ostracise a party because you don\u2019t like their policies,\u201d she said. \u201cElections are a competition of ideas \u2014 not a coronation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami now surging in polls, Sheikh Hasina claimed the Yunus regime is engineering a one-sided contest to permanently erase her legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Kangaroo Court\u2019: Trial for 1,400 Deaths \u2018Rigged from Day One\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sheikh Hasina faces command responsibility charges for the killing of up to 1,400 protesters during the 2024 uprising \u2014 deaths the UN says were part of a state-sponsored crackdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Former lawyer of the 1971 war criminals and the Chief Prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD), Tajul Islam, has demanded the death penalty, calling her \u201cthe nucleus around whom all crimes were committed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Sheikh Hasina rejected the charges outright: \u201cThe charges are not supported by any evidence. This is a trial in absentia by an unelected administration of my political opponents. A guilty verdict is preordained. I will not be surprised when it comes on November 13.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Report: 528 Awami League leaders, activists killed since July 2024<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Doughty Street Chambers reports murders of Awami League members to ICC<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n