Bangladesh has rejected ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s request for a new passport as she seeks to return from India in December, Al Jazeera reports, despite a death sentence awaiting her at home.

Hasina, 79, approached Bangladesh’s High Commission in New Delhi for a passport and national identity card after her existing documents were revoked, according to reporting by Al Jazeera’s Masum Billah.

She fled to India in August 2024 after a student-led uprising forced her from power. Last year, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal sentenced her to death in absentia for crimes against humanity over the crackdown on those protests. She denies the charge. More than 1,400 people were killed during the uprising, according to the United Nations figures cited in the report.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir told Al Jazeera that Bangladesh would pursue her return through its extradition arrangements with India rather than issue her a passport.

On Tuesday, prosecutor Md Aminul Islam, who secured the tribunal’s verdict, told reporters that Hasina would face execution if she returned.

Analysts interviewed by Al Jazeera questioned whether she intends to come back. Zillur Rahman, president of the Dhaka-based Centre for Governance Studies, said the passport request appeared aimed at keeping her Awami League’s leaders and activists politically engaged while retaining control of the party.

Faiz Sobhan of the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute similarly described the announcement as a morale boost for the banned party, many of whose leaders are imprisoned or in exile. Some party supporters nevertheless told Al Jazeera they expected Hasina to return, while acknowledging they did not know how she would do so.

Her continued presence in India remains a source of tension between the neighbours. Bangladesh has repeatedly requested her extradition under a bilateral treaty. New Delhi says it has been examining those requests.

The report provides no confirmed travel arrangements for a December return.

Sources