Fugitive ex-leader Sheikh Hasina warned that holding elections without her party – the first since her overthrow – was “sowing the seeds” of further division in her country.
In written responses to AFP, her first interview since being ousted, Hasina also condemned her crimes against humanity trial as a “jurisprudential joke”, adding she believed a guilty verdict was “preordained”.
Toppled in August 2024 by a student-led uprising that ended her 15-year autocratic rule, Hasina fled by helicopter as crowds stormed her palace.
The UN says up to 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns as she tried to cling to power – deaths now at the centre of her trial.
The 78-year-old former prime minister has been in hiding ever since, hosted by old ally India.
But she remains defiant, and, in comments likely to enrage the many who say she made a ruthless bid to maintain power at all costs, she said she “mourned all the lives lost during the terrible days” when students were gunned down in the streets.
She warned that the ban on her Awami League by the interim government of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was deepening a political crisis in the country of 170 million people, ahead of elections slated for February 2026.
“Elections without the direct participation of all major parties, including the Awami League, cannot be credible,” she said.
While she has issued social media messages to supporters, her response to AFP marks her first direct communication with journalists since her overthrow.
“Without the participation of the Awami League, he is sowing the seeds of future division in the country,” she added. “Yunus must reinstate the Awami League to give Bangladeshis the choice they deserve.”
Rights groups long accused her government of a litany of abuses, including the murder of rivals, suppression of opposition parties, rigged courts and one-sided elections.
Bangladesh’s interim government banned Hasina’s Awami League in May under amendments to the anti-terrorism act – a move Human Rights Watch condemned as “draconian”.
“Free and fair elections require genuine competition, the ability of all parties to campaign, and the electorate’s right to choose between alternatives,” Hasina said.
“Elections are a competition of ideas. You cannot ostracise a party because you don’t like their policies.”
Her rivals, long crushed under her rule, are now resurgent.
Hasina, meanwhile, has defied court orders to return to attend her trial. A verdict is due on Nov 13. — AFP
